


Wildcat Blues

by bexara



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, M/M, Paranormal, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-06
Updated: 2013-12-22
Packaged: 2017-11-18 02:21:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 11
Words: 35,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/555813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bexara/pseuds/bexara
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world where shapeshifters, vampires, wizards and other preternatural beings walk the land, finding everlasting love can be a bitch.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Denial

**Author's Note:**

> With awesome fanart:
> 
> [Bayou rough smex](http://bayoukun.tumblr.com/post/34162185479/aokagaroughsmex) - nsfw  
> [Bayou standing smex](http://bayoukun.tumblr.com/post/33835775938/aokagawersmuttime) - nsfw  
> [Bayou sexy naked Kise](http://bayoukun.tumblr.com/post/34049144916/kisecommercial)  
> [Bayou's chibi AoKaga and KiKuro](http://bayoukun.tumblr.com/post/33879401963/chibiauaokagakisekuro)  
> [Rough smex by squirnail](http://bexara.tumblr.com/post/35880313610)  
> [Sexy sexy smex by pinocopinoco](http://pinocopinoco.tumblr.com/post/40459455155/for-bexaras-wildcat-blues-chapter-7) \- nsf

Basketball was his haven. It was exciting, exhilarating,  _normal_. The rubber of his soles squeaking on the polished wood floor. The rough feel of the dimpled, orange ball on his fingertips. The burn in his muscles as he ran, spun, jumped, aiming for the rim that was so close and yet sometimes seemed a hundred kilometers away. No politics, no machinations, no scheming relatives or clan members. Just him and the ball and the court and nine other players, all scrabbling to be on top.

At least, that’s the way it should be. It was what Kagami wanted when he left America and all the plotting, conniving cats behind. Being a shifter was bad enough. They were largely outnumbered by the vamps and wizards and other beings in the world that walked on both two legs and four. He sometimes felt isolated, different, a freak. There were less than thirty werecat clans left in the whole world, and his den was all that reminded of the once noble tiger dynasty that ruled the other shifters with an iron claw.

Being the only son of the den leader, the supreme head honcho of the few remaining cat clans in America, was torture. Kagami was just a chess piece, a pawn, a sacrifice to strengthen his clan’s power. Before he could even speak, he had been trotted out to all the sons and daughters of the other clan leaders, his family hoping one of them would turn out to be his mate. He thanked every deity he knew by name that the mate bond never flared with any of them.

Just the idea that some stupid chemical reaction in his body could dictate the rest of his life both disgusted and terrified him. Kagami didn’t believe all the nonsense about finding the other half of your soul when found your mate. That was simply bullshit the old shifters clung to in order to make themselves feel better. If you had no control over who you “married” then it was easy to see why they wanted to dress it up so prettily. Instead of accepting it was a physiological response due to their fucked up bodies, they added a spiritual element to it and turned a blind eye to any other explanation.

Well, whatever sugar-coating his people wanted use, Kagami wanted no part of it. Being forced to mate for the rest of his life to some stranger just because his body told him to was, in his opinion, a fate worse than death.  He’d finally had enough and threatened his father with the most blasphemous thing he could think of to get away: marrying a female vamp or wizard or some other race that was biologically compatible with theirs and impregnating the girl. Not that he would do it, the idea of using someone like that was revolting. His father bought it, though. Having children with any other species was taboo because the offspring couldn’t shift, would turn out to be the other race, thus diluting the clan’s already declining population.

Ironic, because of that very reason, because there were so few of them left, because of some evil kick in the ass by the universe, there were less girls born every year, and an unwelcome adaption had occurred. Male shifters were mating with other males. No way to spit out more little weres when both partners were of the same sex. Nothing they could do about it though, not when their fucking bodies went into full on slut mode when they got the first whiff of their mate. Some days Kagami really hated what he was.

Anyway, thanks to his bluff, he had won his independence, even if only temporarily. He was under no illusions. At some point, his father would drag him back, “for the good of the clan.” Until then, he had chosen to go to Japan. His father’s home country and the land of his birth. It hadn’t just been to put half a world between him and his calculating, demanding relatives. No, there were less than one hundred cat shifters in all of the country. The very reason his family had migrated to America in the first place. The odds of him even running into one was astronomical, and the possibility of meeting his true mate was almost nil. He felt safe, secure and so very free here in Japan.

The only problem, the thing he hadn’t counted on, the reason basketball hadn’t turned out to be the escape he truly wanted, was the abundance of other  _weres_. He was used to going to school with hundred and hundreds of non-shifters, only one-hundred werekind in his old middle school back in the States. Not here, not at Seirin. The shifters outnumbered the others five to one. Canine, avian, even ursine  _weres_! He was surrounded. When he picked Seirin, he had only done so because the school was fairly close to his apartment. Kagami hadn’t known it was infested with shifters. He, of course, was the only feline  _were_  in the place. Which made him something of an attraction.

Two slim, pale arms circling him from behind jerked him out of his dismal thoughts, squashing his black and orange tale against his butt. His furry ears flicked in aggravation. Even without looking, he knew who it was. He could tell by the scent, a mix of musk and pine.

“Dammit, Kuroko, I told you to stop hanging on me!” The growling exclamation had no effect.

Tightening his arms, Kuroko rubbed his face against Kagami’s back. “But Kagami-kun smells so good again today.”

“Quit sniffing me, you stupid dog!” Kagami pried the arms loose and spun around.

Ice blue eyes regarded him steadily, though a bit of pique shined in their glimmering depths. “I’m not a dog, Kagami-Kun. I’m a fox.”

“Same difference!” Kagami glared down at him. Really, his scent couldn’t be that amazing that it forced everyone to touch and hug him constantly. While shifters were touchy-feely by nature, this went way beyond the norm.

“It’s not the same at all,” Kuroko lifted his nose in the air, “and it is very offensive to say otherwise.”

Throwing out his hand, Kagami ground the heel of his palm on Kuroko’s head, right between his sleek, blue, fluffy ears. “What’s offensive is how you can’t keep your damn hands to yourself! Why your mate allows you to go around groping other guys is a mystery.”  

“He likes your scent, too,” Kuroko’s head bowed under the force of Kagami’s hand. “Besides, Kise-kun may be Alpha like you and me, but I’m stronger than him. He can’t tell me what to do.”

Kagami knew that. Kuroko’s power buffeted him every time they were close like this. It was cold and sharp, but not repulsive. Rather it was like a cool, crisp, refreshing winter breeze. Kise’s aura was softer, gentler. It was warm sunshine rolling over his skin. Though Kise was much bigger than Kuroko, Kagami had the feeling the blond would be the one taking on the "female" role in the future and  _ugh_  that was an image he completely did not need popping up into his brain.

Kuroko took advantage of his distraction to slip out from under his hand and sidle up next to him. Placing his fingers on Kagami’s arm, the smaller male rubbed his face on Kagami’s bicep. A deep, contented rumble vibrated in his chest.

“Now you are acting like a cat,” Kagami sighed in disgust, but didn’t push Kuroko away. Honestly, the only thing he missed about home was the touch and scent of other weretigers.  Kuroko was no tiger, but his scent wasn’t repulsive and his touch  _was_  comforting. And at least he didn't change all the way into a fox just being around Kagami. Some of the other weres in his class did simply from inhaling his scent, and it embarrassed the hell out of him.

Leaning into his body a little, Kagami glanced around the park, looking for a bright, golden head.

“Kise is late, again,” he grunted in annoyance. “If we don’t hurry, someone else will take the court before us.”

They had arranged to play on one of the street courts, an activity the three of them engaged in regularly. Kise’s job as a model meant he arrived past the allotted time more often than not. All Kagami had to do was turn his head and there was a giant billboard with Kise's mostly naked body sprawled out over it, his wolf ears half folded, his bushy gold tail draped over his front, hiding his groin,a come-hither smile on his face. Kagami rolled his eyes every time he saw it.

“Be patient, Kagami-kun,” Kuroko petted his arm soothingly, “we’ll make Kise-kun take us to Maji Burger after to make up for it, okay?”

His eyes lit up at Kuroko’s suggestion. Kagami’s favorite place to eat in all of Japan was Maji Burger, and he could pack those juicy, tasty cheeseburgers away like nobody’s business.

“Alright,” he nodded grudgingly. It wouldn’t do to seem to eager.

Kuroko knew him well, though, and a tiny smile flitted across his lips a moment and his tail brushed against Kagami's leg playfully before he lifted his head and turned, neck tilting to the side, nose in the air and ears tilted and standing up. Kagami shook his head. Kuroko really was a dog after all.

“Kise-kun is almost here,” Kuroko murmured absently.

The wind stirred and Kagami did indeed catch Kise’s scent on the light breeze. He smelled something else as well. A heavier scent, spicier, like cloves and cinnamon and 100% dominant male. It was a wonderful, amazing smell. He wanted to roll in it, bathe in it, wear it like a blanket, and his dick actually twitched, horrifying him.

His own scent was akin to vanilla mixed with cinnamon, one reason Kuroko loved rubbing on him so (the little fox was a vanilla  _fiend_ ). But the cinnamon teasing his nose, putting him on edge, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, there was nothing sweet about it at all. Only the  _werecats_  had that unique cinnamon attribute, and if he was fighting his own instincts to run toward the delicious scent, if his cock was suddenly filling, swelling, then there was also something special about the person emitting it. A kind of special he didn’t need, didn’t want.

The scent abruptly changed, grew heavier, darker, dangerous. A hunting scent. An aroused scent.  _Fuck fuck fuck!_ He wanted to run, but his feet were glued to the ground.

Kuroko turned toward him, concern furrowing his brow. “Why do you suddenly smell like fear, Kagami-kun?”

“I – I have to get out of here,” he pulled away from Kuroko and took a step back, hating how weak his voice suddenly sounded, how weak he suddenly felt.

“Wait, I don’t understand,” Kuroko grabbed his arm, halting his backward protest.

His skin was itching now, burning, and he wanted to claw at it, wanted to  _shift_ , hunker down on all fours with his tail in the air, bare his fangs and challenge the owner of that remarkable scent, find out if the male now rushing toward him with wicked intent was strong enough to make him submit.  _Nonononono!_  This couldn’t be happening, not now, not here in Japan when he had gone to such great lengths to escape such a ridiculous, horrifying, unwelcome fate.

Kagami felt him before he saw him. The wild, deadly, demanding aura slammed into him, lashed at him, almost drove him to his knees. His ears finally picked up the sound of swift, running feet, and suddenly it was too late to run, too late to flee, too late for everything.

Glittering eyes, the color of blue twilight, bore into him, captured him, hypnotized him. He could couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t stop the heavy arousal that  burned low and deep inside him. The scorching gaze raked over him, a slow, deliberate, sinful perusal. Everywhere those maddening eyes landed, his flesh felt scorched, flayed, ripped open and laid bare. His own crimson orbs, helpless to stop themselves, roved hungrily over the man now walking toward him.

The stranger was about his age. Muscular, tall, his face was an example of perfect male beauty with a mouth both sensual and cruel, high cheekbones and a chin that pointed slightly like a cat’s. His hair was short, parted on the side, a blue so deep it was almost raven. His furry ears, a bit smaller than Kagami's, were a darker shade of the same color, edging toward true black. Arms and legs, left exposed by his shorts and tank top, were well defined, toned, and all wrapped up in a sleek, dusky package. Kagami had to dig his nails into the tender flesh of his palms to hold his hands back, to keep from reaching out to touch that gorgeous, dark skin. The stranger exuded untamed sexuality, feral and primal. Kagami felt like he had been hit in the solar plexus by one of Kuroko’s supersonic passes just looking at him.

Against his will, against everything he had ever believed and hoped for himself, Kagami wanted this man, wanted him with a fierceness that surprised him, no matter how many times his father had tried to tell Kagami what to expect. He hadn’t thought he would be nearly overwhelmed by his animal urges. Because at that moment he actually quivered with the need to rub his body all over the other male’s, absorb his scent and heat and passion. Kagami wanted the blue-eyed stranger, and he hated the bastard for it.

As he watched, the man’s nostrils flared and he licked those full, kissable lips. His eyes went black, black with lust, and Kagami knew what he had done. The stranger had inhaled him, tasted his scent on the air, and found it an aphrodisiac. He knew because it was the same for him, the Moon help him. His tail thumped rapidly behind him, agitated, distressed. The other cat's tail swished, too, but it was the movement that usually accompanied a big cat pouncing on his prey. And, heaven help him, Kagami knew he  _was_  that prey. 

“Aomine-kun, what—.” Obviously Kuroko could smell the tension, the heat, the desire flaring between them, but he couldn’t ask, couldn’t complete his question.

_Aomine, his name was Aomine_ , Kagami thought a little wildly, the name beating into his brain like a bass drum.

Baring his teeth, teeth that were sporting sharp, lethal kitty fangs, Aomine snarled with a ferocity that made Kuroko blink and Kagami swallow down a whimper as he struggled not to lower his head and offer his neck, “Even if it’s you, Tetsu, if you don’t remove your hand right now, I swear I will tear it off.”

The sound of his voice, so smooth, so husky, so devastating, even vibrating with rage, speared into Kagami’s ears and shot straight to his cock, lengthening the erection that had started to form the moment he first caught Aomine’s scent.

Kise chose that moment to appear, jogging up to them. “Why did you take off running like that, Aominecchi?” He was a little out of breath, proof he had exerted some effort to catch up.

Ignoring the newcomer, Aomine’s eyes slashed into Kuroko’s. Power rolled off him in giant, menacing waves, a tsunami of anger, possessiveness, lust. “I won’t say it again, Tetsu. Move or bleed, your choice.”

It was obvious Kise didn’t know what was going, but he did know his lover had just been threatened. Jumping in front of Kuroko, his golden eyes changed to amber. Fangs sprouted from his mouth as razor-like claws extended from his hands. While for some strange reason shifters always sported their ears and tails, the fangs and claws only came out during times of great emotional excitement or duress, and during the full moon when they transformed completely into their animal forms. Kise was definitely in a wild emotional state. Not just the claws and fangs giving him away, but his musk and summer sun fragrance deepened, filled with the scent of protection, aggression, and confusion.

“No one talks to my mate like that, Aominecchi. Not you, not anyone.”  Kise might be playful, happy, his honey gold hair and eyes sparkling and attracting everyone who saw him, but that didn’t change what he was inside. He was a wolf, and his mate had just been threatened. The air was thick with danger, violence, the possibility of death and dismemberment.

Then Aomine roared something Kagami had been expecting, dreading, fearing with his whole body. “And that  _is_  my mate, Kise! It’s taking every ounce of control I have to keep from ripping Tetsu’s face off.  _Don’t push me further._ ”

Each word hammered into Kagami's heart, stabbed into his soul, elated and repulsed him. Fucking shifter physiology  He had never hated what he was more than he hated it right then.

Aomine's revelation caused Kise to draw up, look with wide-eyed surprise back and forth between Kagami and Aomine. Kuroko dropped his hand and took a cautionary step back.

“Eh?! Kagamicchi is Aominecchi’s mate?!”

Kise sounded like he couldn’t believe it, well neither could Kagami. He wasn’t going to accept it either. The blond’s words roused Kagami from his stupor, broke the spell he was under. He wasn’t going to let this farce happen, no way, no how. Spinning on his heel, he burst into a fast, mad sprint. He didn’t know what he was doing, didn't know where he was going, just knew he had to run, had to get away before his life as he knew it was over.

TBC


	2. The Fox and the Wolf

In the aftermath of the whole wild, crazy scene, of Aomine outing Kagami as his mate and Kagami’s desperate escape with the panther hot on his heels, Kise and Kuroko stood stunned and silent. Kise in particular was overcome with a myriad of emotions. Surprise at the revelation they had just heard. Simmering anger, an anger that made his teeth ache to bite and his claws itch to shred and tear, at the way Aomine had threatened Kuroko. Guilt that he had been the one to bring Aomine to their little streetball game.

Kise knew how Kagami felt about being mated, especially to a complete stranger. Kuroko had told him once when he had wondered why Kagami was so adamant about staying away from other werecats. Which he should have remembered, but Aomine had been insistent, wanting in on his and Kuroko's weekly street game, and Kise had wanted to play against Aomine again, too. Wanted to play so badly he simply forgot everything else, and now Kagami would bear the brunt of his actions.

Truthfully, though, Kise didn’t understand Kagami’s reluctance. Finding Kuroko, especially so early when they had been in middle school, was the best thing that had ever happened to him. It was wonderful, jubilant, a miracle he had welcomed with open arms. Kuroko was beautiful, inside and out, and when their eyes met for the first time, Kise had felt something click inside him, had felt whole and happy and  _alive_. Everything seemed so much brighter, vivid. Colors, sounds, the whole world. He relished every moment he spent with his mate, took joy in even the simplest, ordinary activities as long as his little fox was by his side.

Kagami didn’t believe in any of that, according to Kuroko. Instead of seeing the mate bond as the beautiful, spiritual, soul–completing marvel it was, the tiger saw it as a cold, life-ruining chain, and he wanted no part of it. Kise didn’t agree, couldn’t agree when every day with Kuroko was bliss, but he respected his friend’s feelings.

“I’m going after them,” Kuroko said softly, but with iron intent, jerking Kise out of his ruminations.

Kuroko had already taken a few steps. Kise halted his movements by circling his arms around his mate’s waist. Shaking his head, Kise pulled his Kuroko close.

“We can’t interfere, Kurokocchi,” he murmured, feeling Kuroko’s concern and agitation and, yes, rage spilling out through the mate bond.

“But Aomine-kun is just so, so …,” Kuroko leaned back into his mate, seeking comfort in the touch of Kise's skin (something all weres did when upset) as he struggled to find the right words.

Kise finished for him, instead. “Aominecchi is so  _Aominecchi_ , right?”                                                    

The shorter man nodded. “Yes, exactly. I love Aomine-kun, but I am not oblivious to his faults. He doesn’t listen, is aggressive to the point of blindness to anything else when he is going after something he wants, and I’m afraid he could harm Kagami-kun.”

The wolf couldn’t find fault with Kuroko for saying he loved Aomine. Kise cared deeply for the arrogant bastard himself. The three of them had formed a tight friendship in middle school that had only strengthened over time, each of them complimenting the other in manner and personality. Although Aomine's brief descent into dickery, when he had fallen into an angry despair at how easy basketball had become, strained their relationship until Kuroko had beat some sense into him.

Kise also couldn’t reassure Kuroko that Aomine wouldn’t hurt Kagami. When the first scent of your mate washed over you, all you could think of was joining your bodies together, of rutting like the wild animal that lived inside you, of extending your fangs and giving the mating mark that would twine the threads of your lives for eternity. When he had walked into the Teikō gym and saw Kuroko for the first time, Kise’s fangs had exploded in his mouth, all the blood in his body had rushed to his cock, and only fear of Akashi had kept him from jumping his little mate right there.

After practice had been another matter. He and Kuroko hadn’t left the locker room for hours, much to the other team members’ disgust. His small fox had been hot and sweet and so terribly delicious. Just thinking about it now gave Kise an erection. Actually, he’d already had a budding stiffy just from smelling all the mating pheromones Aomine and Kagami had been throwing around. He wanted to push Kuroko down right then and fuck him hard and fast. He restrained though (mostly because he knew the smaller man would kick his ever loving ass if he so much as tried).

Aomine, however, probably wouldn’t have any control at all, and Kagami was sure to resist. Which would be beyond bad for the tiger. If your mate fought you, rejected you, it could bring your primitive, violent beast to the fore.  Some mated pairs had even killed each other during First Blood, the name weres called the initial joining when the mark was bestowed, ripping and biting and clawing until they lay they torn, bleeding and dying. While they may have the same general appearance of the other humanoid races that inhabited their planet, it didn’t change what they were inside.

Squeezing Kuroko, Kise put his chin on the other’s head and sighed. “I’m sure it will be alright, Kurokocchi.” He didn’t completely believe his own words so he hurried on, “Aominecchi has been searching, yearning for his mate for a long time. Especially since you and I, and Akashicchi and Murasakibaracchi mated so early. Even Midorimacchi has found his mate at his new school. I know Aominecchi felt upset, slighted that out of all of us he was the only one still alone.”

“I don’t care,” Kuroko responded stubbornly. “Kagami-kun is different from all of us. He is … gentle, innocent. Aomine-kun could break him without even meaning to. I would never forgive Aomine-kun if that happened.”

Anyone else would laugh at the idea that someone as big and strong and loud as Kagami could be innocent, but Kise got what his mate was saying. There was a naivety about Kagami you couldn’t help but love, couldn't help but want to protect. It wasn’t just his scent that made everyone want to be around him.

Turning Kuroko around in his arms, Kise tipped his mate’s chin up, gazing into ice blue eyes that weren’t the least bit cold.

“Kurokocchi, we have to trust that Aominecchi won’t be so stupid as to really hurt his mate.”

“Aomine-kun is an idiot, though,” Kuroko grumbled in return.

Smiling, Kise brushed his lips across the other were's. “Yes, true, but Kagamicchi is an idiot, too. That makes them a perfect pair, don’t you think?”

Kuroko’s lips curved slightly and he nodded, but his eyes stayed worried. Kise kissed him again, hard, putting every ounce of affection and passion and desperate need he had for his mate into it. Kuroko stayed stiff for a moment, but eventually melted, his mate’s scent and heat forming a cocoon of desire around him that he couldn’t fight. Didn’t really want to fight.

When they pulled apart, the blond wolf pressed their cheeks together, basking in his mate’s musk-pine fragrance, in his love that was so tangible Kise could taste it on the breeze ruffling their hair.

“Kurokocchi, I want you,” he murmured in a voice gone deep and husky with desire, grinding their hips together, bushy tail curving around them both.

He felt Kuroko’s heart beating wildly against him, scented the other’s arousal. Nodding again, Kuroko slipped his hand into Kise’s larger one.

“Then take me home, Kise-kun. Take me home and love me.”

“I do love you,” Kise replied, a catch in his throat now as the depth of that love threatened to overwhelm him.

“I know,” Kuroko replied softly, tightening his fingers around Kise’s as they began to walk. “I love you, too, Kise-kun, but I will still kill Aomine-kun if he hurts Kagami-kun.”

Steel vibrated in every word, and Kise knew Kuroko meant what he said, felt it in the cool, deadly power crashing over him. The Moon help Aomine if he injured  Kagami, because no one else would be able to once Kuroko got hold of him, not even Kise.

TBC


	3. Pursuit

If he looked deeply enough, Kagami would admit to himself there was no way in hell he could make good on his escape. Aomine had his scent. He would have to fly to Antarctica to get away from the … what was he? Aomine certainly wasn’t a tiger, he knew that much. Tigers were warm, playful, dangerous when provoked yes, but mostly they were just protectors, defenders of their cubs and kin and even other clans. That was how they had the power to rule, their protective instincts keeping every one safe.  Aomine had not given off that feeling at all. His aura had been aggressive, arrogant, a little bit sly and 100% deadly. Whatever he was, Aomine was used to going on the offensive, running down his prey just like he was running Kagami down now.

Kagami could feel him back there now, closing in on him. No matter how fast he ran, no matter how he strained his muscles, he wasn’t gaining ground. In fact, he was losing it. He swore he could practically feel Aomine’s breath on the back of his neck. It didn’t help matters that his body was fighting him, wanting to turn around and either spread his legs or show his ass. This feeling of wanting to submit was a living, breathing thing inside him, and he despised it down to his very soul. Because if he got caught, if he got mounted, then their bond would truly be forever. He would become impotent, sterile, unable to have sex with anyone else other than his mate.

Not that he had ever been enamored much with sex and it’s messy, sticky aftermath, preferring to use his energy up on the court and not in bed. All of that would change once his flesh joined with this wildcat chasing him, this stranger that he knew nothing about other than he was handsome, toned, and had eyes that glittered like blue onyx. No, that wasn’t quite right, Kagami also knew what Aomine smelled like when he was aroused. The scent was enveloping him, pulling at him, filling his cock with an animalistic craving. It was immensely hard to run with an erection banging against his leg with every step he took. Something he would have found humorous at any other time, but he wasn’t laughing now.

Distracted by his thoughts and careening emotions, he didn’t see the fence until it was too late, until he hit the chain links with a loud, meaty thud. It knocked the breath out of him, and he tried to suck in air, tried to untangle his body from the metal monster, but his breath whooshed out again as he was slammed hard from behind.  

Strong, almost brutal hands grabbed his, shoved them against the fence, held him motionless. A long black tail wrapped around his waist. There was no question who had rammed him, who was pinning him, caging him in. Fury and lust rode on the wind, so palatable he could taste it on the air, feel it soaking into his very pores.

Pressing hard into him, so hard and close it was like he wanted to crawl into Kagami’s skin, Aomine growled into his ear, “Don’t you  _ever_  run from me again. If you do, I will strip you where you stand and fuck you right there. Nod if you understand.”

He nodded, swallowing hard, speech stolen from him, stolen by Aomine’s heat and scent and arousal poking him from behind like a burning, steel pole. With his hands still captured, Kagami was helpless to resist when Aomine stuck his nose into the bend of his neck and inhaled deeply.

“God, your scent is driving me crazy.” His voice, low and hungry, vibrating over Kagami’s skin, sending shudders along his spine. Aomine ground his dick viciously into Kagami’sss, only their shorts and underwear preventing him from burying that massive flesh into the weretiger’s willing body.  Yes, willing, it was just his mind that was resistant. Lust shot through his cells like seething quicksilver, hardening his own cock until it was weeping and painfully engorged. The beast within him raised its head, clawing and roaring to let its mate take him, or let him claim his mate.

Against his will, he pushed back, rubbing his butt against Aomine’s erection, the friction maddening. By some miracle, however, he was able to find his voice, to snarl out his protests.

“Let me go, you bastard!”

Aomine didn’t let him go. Instead, he licked at Kagami’s throat, his tongue damp and warm and stimulating. His teeth clamped down hard, hard enough to draw blood, hard enough to hurt, yet it was a the best kind of hurt, a pleasurable pain that made Kagami’s heart batter against his chest, made his blood zing with boiling desire.  

One of the hands shackling his let go, crawled down his arm, over to his torso. Kagami should have pried it away, now that his own hand was free, but he didn’t, couldn’t. Those long, lean fingers left a trail of small fires behind everywhere they touched, and he was powerless to defy them. Aomine played along his chest, searching for something. He found it when his palm grazed Kagami’s nipple, already stiff and pebbling against his shirt. He twisted the little nub, hard, cruelly. It should have been painful,  _was_  painful, but it also felt wonderful, lifting Kagami to his toes, wringing a wild, desperate cry from his throat.

Ashamed of his reaction, Kagami closed his eyes and forced harsh, blistering, rejecting words to his lips. “I said let me go, you fucking asshole! I don’t want this, I don’t even know you, don't even know what the hell you are.”

Lifting his mouth off Kagami’s neck, Aomine rasped, “You  _do_  want this.” He demonstrated by tweaking Kagami’s nipple again, this time a little gentler, tugging and plumping the tiny disc, causing it to throb eagerly, a throbbing he felt echo in his cock. “And you will know me,” Aomine continued, releasing the nipple, edging down Kagami’s stomach, to the band of his shorts. “You will know my scent and shape and essence, know it until you will forget what it ever felt like to not have me inside you, riding you, loving you, fucking you. I'm the panther who is your goddamn mate and you will  _never_  get away from me now.”

“That’ll never happen, you arrogant prick. You don’t love me and I’ll  _never_  love you!”  _Oh shit oh shit oh shit_ , he was a panther, the most arrogant, bloodthirsty, vicious, dominating type of werecat in existence. Kagami was screwed, in more ways than one.

“You will,” Aomine swore in response to that assertion, and shoved his hand into Kagami’s boxers.

They were hidden by a large, wide oak with towering branches. It didn’t change the fact that they were out in the open, less than twenty meters from the road, and Kagami couldn’t care less. Rather, his disobedient  _penis_  couldn’t care less. His brain was screaming at him, cursing at him, telling him to get the fuck out of there, but it was subservient the needs of his body, and his body wanted, welcomed what Aomine was doing to him. It liked this man he had barely met toying with him… no they hadn’t even met, not for real, but his libido didn’t have a single objection.

Resuming his mouthing on Kagami’s neck, Aomine wrapped his fingers around the redhead’s shaft, stroked it with agonizingly slowness from root to tip. When he put his finger into the sticky, leaking slit at the top, pressed and smeared around the pre-cum dribbling there, Kagami’s head fell back with a rough moan, granting the molester greater access to his throat. Of their own accord, his legs widened, giving Aomine more room to move, and he did.

The lazy strokes became a quick, twisting, jacking motion. It was the most intense feeling Kagami had ever experienced, a pleasure a thousand times richer than the paltry crumbs of gratification he got from his own hands. He was so wet, the fingers on him started making a  _shlick shlick_  sound as they pumped his dick. It was obscene, vulgar. His hips moved anyway, thrusting his cock harder into this man’s, this stranger’s, his  _mate’s_  hand.

_No!_  They weren’t mated, not yet, not until one of them spilled their seed in the other and gave the mating mark. It was a poor, pitiful thought but he clung to it like a lifeline.   

“I … hate …you,” he bit out through gritted teeth, feeling the hot rush of orgasm rising in his balls.

Aomine responded by biting him again, savagely, this time with his fangs. He sucked hard, drinking down Kagami’s scent, lapping up his blood like it was the finest of wines. The bite was too much. Too much pain, too much pleasure. With an unwanted, harsh moan, Kagami’s eyes rolled up in his head and he came and came and came, jerking and pulsing in the hand that continued jogging him, milking him dry.

Finally, Aomine stopped his erotic torment, withdrew his hand. Kagami’s eyes fluttered open just in time to see dark fingers covered with creamy, white fluid.  _His_  fluid, his cum. Aomine brought his hand up to Kagami’s face, wiped a thumb over his prisoner’s mouth, smearing Kagami’s own seed over his lips. His stomach churned, but to his horror he found the flames of arousal start to stir in his groin once again. The hand disappeared. Kagami heard a slurping sound, knew Aomine was sucking his essence off those wicked fingers, and the embers burning inside him bloomed into a full blown blaze. His cock was hard and ready once more.

There was no hiding his arousal. Aomine could smell it. Without warning, he spun Kagami around and crushed their mouths together.

The kiss was ruthless, fierce. Kagami tasted himself on Aomine’s tongue, and soon tasted blood as Aomine’s fangs cut his mouth. A bright, coppery flavor, tinged with vanilla, filled his mouth, the bittersweet perfume of it drifting up to his nose. Like a shark scenting blood in the water, Aomine went into a frenzy. Plunging his tongue between Kagami’s lips over and over, licking up every drop, fucking his mouth as assuredly as he wanted to fuck Kagami’s ass, all the while grinding their erections together. And Kagami didn’t just let Aomine do it, he actively returned the kiss, blood an aphrodisiac to him, too. His hidden self was predator, a carnivore after all.

Just as he started to feel dizzy, both from the blood and from the lack of air, Aomine lifted his head. His eyes flickered bright, iridescent green, a sign his animal was close to the surface, as if his fangs and the claws now digging in Kagami’s ass weren’t evidence enough.

“Come with me. I’m going to mate with you now, fuck you raw until you can’t even stand.” 

The feral, explicit threat was barely more than a whisper, yet it sounded like a loud, clanging death knell to Kagami. He was shaking his head before Aomine finished. His rejection inflamed Aomine, made his hands crueler as they curled into Kagami’s backside and yanked him closer.

“If you don’t follow me now, I will mount you out here, for all the world to see,” Aomine responded with deadly softness, his jaw clenching, obviously holding back the desire to bite Kagami again, force him to submit.

Though his body liked the idea of rough sex, of being compelled by brute strength to surrender, Kagami believed Aomine would do it, would screw him right under the open sky in broad daylight. He wouldn’t be able to handle that, wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he allowed Aomine to penetrate him in public. He did the only thing he could in such a situation, he nodded curtly and let Aomine lead him away.

TBC


	4. Claiming

Aomine was aroused, brutally so. Every step he took chafed his shorts against his throbbing, swollen dick. His mate’s scent, perfuming the air with vanilla and cinnamon and lust, was pushing him almost to the point of no return. From his first whiff of Kagami’s addicting fragrance, he’d been hard. Hard and desperate, a desperation that had turned to rage when he had seen Tetsu’s hand on his mate. _His_.

The feelings sweeping over him had been confusing, searing, taking him completely by storm. Once, and only once, had he asked someone what being mated was like. It was his mistake that he hadn't let Kise give him an answer him that time. 

It was when he’d been feeling low, depressed, all because Midorima had shown up to one of their monthly get-togethers with his very own mate chirping at his heels. That left Aomine the only one left from their group without a mate. Satsuki didn't count. Witches weren't like weres with their mate bond.

Irritation had given him a headache that night. He blamed it on Midorima’s mate. Damn birds, always fluttering around, chattering and driving everyone crazy. Except for Midorima, but that’s what you would expect from a freaking owl. And, there was Akashi, too, but he was different, he was … no best not to think about that right now.

Anyway, he had blamed most of his foul mood on that Takao with his stupid, laughing face and nonstop babbling. A good portion of his ire was directed at Satsuki, too, for continuing to arrange those dumb get-togethers. Other than Tetsu and Kise, Aomine really didn’t care whether or not he saw his ex-Teikō teammates, _unless_ they were facing each other on the basketball court. Their scents were just too annoying.

Midorima and Murasakibara made him hungry every time he was around them, for different reasons (Midorima smelled like prey while Murasakibara smelled like chocolate cake). It was hard concentrating on things when his stomach was growling. Akashi, on the other hand, he smelled like strength, absolute power, a _king_. Aomine always had to resist the urge to roll over and show his belly every time he was near the bastard. That pissed him off, which was why he hated to go within ten meters of the other were.

So, that night, when Kise had come up to him, taken one look at the dark expression on his face and asked what was up, Aomine had intended to blast the wolf with a litany of complaints about the night, the party, every stupid shifter there. Instead of a blistering tongue lashing, however, what came out was a hesitant, “What’s it feel like when you find your mate?”

Kise had been stunned, of course, to hear such a diffident question from him. The shock had quickly faded and something close to pity had flashed in the blond’s golden eyes. Aomine had wanted to kick his teeth in for that. Instead, the panther had leapt to his feet with a snarling, “Fuck it, never mind.”

He should have stayed, he realized now, should have swallowed his damn pride and listened to Kise’s answer. Maybe then he would have been prepared for this gut-gnawing, body-sizzling, cock-aching lust that threatened to turn him into the conscienceless, vicious beast he shared a soul with.

He hadn’t been prepared, though.

The scent had hit him first as he was walking beside Kise, listening to the wolf prattle on about the modeling job he had just left. Aomine had froze, every nerve in his body coming alive, every cell vibrating, every drop of blood boiling. The primitive, savage side of him roared to the surface, wanting to hunt, claim, mate, _fuck_ until he had soaked the owner of that drugging fragrance in his semen, in his scent.

It was a new feeling to Aomine. Sex had always been perfunctory to him before. A bodily need to be satiated like hunger or thirst. Females, and some males, came to him so easily, with just the crook of his finger, just a hint of his Alpha scent. He'd never had to chase after sex. And, he had never wanted to rut so badly, so instantly, so wildly that his dick actually threatened to stab right through his shorts. Not until that moment.

His body was suddenly moving, running, leaving a confused Kise behind. The second he first laid eyes on the tall red-head, the panther in him roared. Aomine had known with just the one glance that the tiger was his mate, the source of the intoxicating scent. It hit him then, _this_ was Tetsu’s Kagami.

Kise and Tetsu, especially Tetsu, constantly talked about an amazing player called Kagami who had joined Tetsu’s basketball team. Talked about him so much Aomine was both jealous and curious, doubly so because Tetsu refused to allow them to meet, just shrugging and saying there would be plenty of time for that when Seirin played Touo. Tetsu wouldn’t budge, but Aomine was crafty. He knew Kise wouldn’t be able to resist playing against him again and persuaded the wolf to bring him along to their next street game.  

All he had wanted was to see this supposedly awesome guy, maybe smack him around a little on the court to show Tetsu and Kise who was _really_ the best player. He hadn’t expected to find his mate.

They had never told him Kagami was a weretiger, or any kind of werecat at all, those two canine assholes he had thought were his friends. Just thinking about it added to his fury. His mate was there all along and the two people closest to him in the whole world, other than Satsuki, had hid the tiger from him. Aomine really _had_ almost ripped Tetsu’s hand off back there. Not only because the fox was touching Kagami, but also because Tetsu had deliberately kept them separated all this time.

_Kagami._  Aomine immediately liked the name when he heard Tetsu speak it. It resonated within him, though he did wonder what the tiger’s given name was. He would have asked, but then Kagami had run, and the predator in him took over, leading to their rough encounter at the fence. Gods, he could still feel Kagami's heat, still taste the bittersweet flavor of his cum. It was a taste he could become addicted to, could come to crave so deeply everything else in the world would be meaningless. 

With Kagami striding compliantly beside him now, he felt slightly calmer. His field of vision had returned to normal, so he knew he was no longer in danger of shifting. It had been touch and go there for a minute, as Kagami’s arousal and fright filled his nostrils. Every dark instinct he hadn’t known he possessed beat at him to bleed then fuck the tiger. Blood wasn’t the only aphrodisiac to their kind. The rich scent of fear could bring them to a frenzy, too.

The rational, cognizant part of his brain knew that starting a relationship based on fear and domination was wrong, disastrous even. Yet he could not stop himself from forcibly seizing what was not freely given. Just walking side by side, it was taking every ounce of willpower he had not to yank Kagami’s shorts down, spread his ass, and mount him. The fangs in Aomine's mouth literally pulsed with the need to bite down, taste that sweet cinnamon-vanilla blood again, and give Kagami the mark that would seal their lives together.

He dimly thought that he shouldn’t be so eager to tie them together. Kagami could have smelly feet or a butt 'fro or a bad rash somewhere. He could even be a total asshole for all Aomine knew. _No, that’s your domain, Aomine-kun,_ a voice which sounded suspiciously like Tetsu’s whispered in his ear.

Aomine shoved the voice away, and wished he could as easily discard the rampant erection bogging down his every step, pressing him to take Kagami and complete their bond. It was true; he could be single-minded to the point of ruthless recklessness in pursuing the things he desired, steamrolling anyone who got in his way. But, he didn’t _want_ to hurt Kagami, not when he had finally found the mate he had pined after for years.

He was afraid, however, that his very genetic makeup would make it impossible for him to do anything _but_ hurt the tiger. Aomine simply could not summon up one iota of gentleness, no matter how hard he tried. When he got Kagami alone, out of prying eyes, he was going to be rough, feral, maybe crazed. Even if he wished otherwise. It was the nature of the beast, his beast, and Aomine could only succumb to it.

Maybe he could blunt some of the damage, a thought suddenly occurred to him. Maybe he could get Kagami to see him as something other than a monster before the inevitable happened. He would try talking to Kagami during the short walk to their destination. Probably not the greatest plan, but it was the only one he had.

“I know what your surname is, but what is your given name?” 

He asked slowly, softly, like he was speaking to a frightened animal. Which, in a sense, he was. All the while tying to soothe his beast by assuring it that soon this empty feeling inside, this raging lust, would be assuaged.

Kagami meanwhile had been mired down in trepidation and sheer terror, lost in his own dark, despairing thoughts. The bleak introspection was the reason he actually stumbled when Aomine spoke his first words since leaving the park. _What was his name?_ Kagami's mind blanked.

“T-Taiga,” he looked at Aomine and eventually answered in a voice so rusty it sounded like he hadn’t spoken in years. Kagami didn’t see any reason not to give his name, not when Aomine could force it out if he wanted.

Aomine’s head turned toward him. The panther looked surprised and then amused, his mouth widening into a crooked grin, mischief actually dancing in his eyes, momentarily replacing the burning, aggressive heat that had been darkening them.

“Taiga,” Aomine drawled it out, and just the sound of his name rolling off the other’s lips in that husky, smooth as honey voice caused Kagami to quiver again. “Guess your parents had a sense of humor, huh?”

He could only nod, bereft of actual speech at that moment. A smiling, laughing Aomine was a far cry from the uncontrolled, lust-blinded brute he’d been back at the park. That dusky face looked younger, softer, but still gorgeous as sin. Kagami blinked, desire twisting his stomach again, but it was warm, and gentle, not the involuntary, scorching sensation from before.

Against his better judgment, he felt his body relax a little. If Aomine could smile like that, maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t the mindless, instinct-driven beast he had initially seemed to be. Surely he wasn't, not if Kuroko was able to be friends with him. Thinking of his partner made Kagami realize he had a great deal to say to the fox once they met again, like why Kuroko had never told him about Aomine, never told him there was another werecat nearby.

Clearing his throat, Kagami pushed all that aside for now and answered Aomine’s question, his voice stronger. “It was my mom, actually. She’s not Japanese, so when they found out I was a boy, she started searching all those baby name sites. When she came across ‘Taiga’ she thought it was hilariously fitting. My dad _wasn’t_ amused.”

Chuckling, Aomine stuck his hands in the pockets of his shorts. The movement stretched the thin material over his groin, revealing the large bulge there.  Face flaming and heart somersaulting, Kagami quickly faced forward so he wasn’t looking at the other shifter. He didn't need the reminder of what Aomine planned for him.

“Didn’t your dad tell her _Taiga_ isn’t the word for tiger?”

Somehow, they were abruptly having a nice, normal conversation. He could do this, Kagami told himself. It was going to be okay.

“Uh, yeah, but _Tora_ is a girl’s name. Though, when she found out the actual word, I’m told I was almost listed as Tora on my birth certificate.”

“Aw, too bad, that would have been cute,” Aomine observed with another laugh, then added, “cute just like you.”

Kagami tripped over his own feet again _. Cute?!_ What exactly about him was cute?

He and Aomine were roughly the same height, Aomine a tiny bit taller. Their body types were also similar. Muscled, lean, _manly_. They were similar, but Kagami certainly didn't think Aomine was cute at all. Handsome, yes. Sexy, definitely (though the tiger hated to admit it), with all that sleek, dark skin complimenting his black panther ears and tail, going perfectly with the midnight blue hair on his head. Silky blue hair that beckoned fingers to run through it, tangle in it. Not that Kagami had those inclinations. _Yeah, right._ His hands were practically itching to touch the soft, thick strands, to his complete dismay.The red hair his parents had given him, on the other hand, was too vivid, too garish, always looking like he had stuck his finger in an electric socket, regardless of how hard he tried to tame it.  _There was no way in hell he was cute!_

He didn’t contradict Aomine, however, too afraid it would ruin the civilized atmosphere they had going between them. 

“Ah, uh, what’s your name?” Kagami ventured to ask, keeping his tone light and even.

"Aomine. Aomine Daiki." 

The delighted satisfaction rolling off Aomine as he answered was palatable, causing Kagami’s pulse to blip again. He suddenly _wanted_ to please Aomine, felt unbelievably happy he had caused the other were to emit such a wonderful, pleasing scent. And, the very fact his whole body buzzed with the desire to do it _again_ scared him shitless. 

_Fuck fuck fuck!_ This mate thing was more powerful than he thought if it could make him feel these unwelcome emotions. Kagami dreaded what would happen once Aomine gave him the mark and they truly bonded. How much would he change? Would he even recognize himself after it was all over?

“Your scent just became tinged with fear again,” Aomine stopped, grabbing Kagami’s hand, forcing him to halt, too. “What are you thinking?”

He almost yanked his hand away. The desire that had gone slightly dormant while they had been talking rushed back to life from just that simple, casual touch. He wanted Aomine with a fierceness, with a volatile passion that was foreign to him. His tail flipped back and forth rapidly and his ears twitched, an unconscious reaction to his disturbed state.

“I’m thinking we don’t have to do this,” he replied frantically. “We can take our time, get to know each other first, let things happen naturally.” Anxiety and desperation colored his every word.

Aomine’s dark eyes narrowed. His body went rigid. Anger and lust filled the air around them. _Aomine’s_ anger. _Aomine’s_ lust. Kagami took a step back, but his hand was still shackled, impeding his movement.

“This _is_ natural.”

The blunt statement hissed through Aomine’s gritted teeth. He jerked Kagami forward, their bodies slamming together, and kissed him. It was hard, swift, bruising. Kagami helplessly returned the kiss, instinct riding him.

It was over as quickly as it had begun. Aomine’s breath was harsh and moist against his mouth as he spoke again.

“And, it’s too late. We’re already here.”

Kagami’s wide, dazed eyes looked in front of them. The tall building standing before him had a gaudy, pink, neon sign flashing the words “Hotel Kitty.” He swallowed, resisting the urge to drop his head and weep. His deflowering, his mating, was going to take place in a seedy hotel with the most horribly appropriate name ever. Kagami could actually hear fate laughing at him. What a bitch.

“So, are you going to enter quietly or do I have to throw you over my shoulder?”

His hard tone left Kagami no doubt that Aomine was deadly serious. Biting the inside of his jaw to keep from screaming, the tiger let Aomine lead him inside the lurid establishment, to the front desk, and to the room where his life was going to be irrevocably changed forever.

***

"Let me go!" Kagami snatched his hand out of Aomine's as soon as they entered the room, putting some distance between. Unfortunately, there was nowhere for him to go in the small, sleazy room that had blood-red carpet and mirrors on the ceiling.

He was scared, reluctantly aroused, and completely embarrassed. The old wizard at the front desk had lifted a silver eyebrow and leered at them when Aomine checked them in, his ancient eyes knowing as he glanced directly at Kagami. The old codger knew was about to happen, knew Kagami was going to be fucked within an inch of his life. It made him feel repulsed and violated just thinking about it.

"Why did you suddenly do an one-eighty on me when were talking just now?" Aomine asked quietly, his voice a deep, smooth rumble. Allowing Kagami space, but tracking the tiger's every movement with steady, unblinking focus.

Kagami didn't know why, but Aomine's voice seemed to caress his ears and flow straight to his cock. If he weren't so terrified of the panther, if he didn't hate everything the other shifter represented, he thought he might just be able to listen to that silken, sensual voice all day long. Unfortunately, Aomine was the embodiment of Kagami's own personal hell, and his voice was just another piece of the chain binding the tiger to him.

"Because I remembered what you are, what I am, and that friendly facade of a conversation was just that. A facade," Kagami spit out hatefully.

Too bad his words didn't mean a damn thing. His body still trembled with need. Wanted him to drop to the floor, present his ass for reaming, the back of his neck for marking. The stench of arousal flooded the small room, and it wasn't only emanating from Aomine.

"Don't push me, _please_ ," Aomine was suddenly beside him, whispering in his ear, the plea sounding like it had been dragged from him. He shoved his nose into Kagami's hair and inhaled deeply, greedily, pulling Kagami's scent into his lungs. "Gods you smell so fucking _amazing_." He was almost growling as he spoke.

Kagami froze, shuddered, and then it was his turn to plead. "Please don't do this."

He hated himself for sounding so weak, so Beta, but he wasn't ready for this. Not yet, maybe not ever.

Aomine hesitated for a fraction of a second. "I'm ... sorry," he murmured, and joined their lips together.

For one, brief, exquisite moment, Kagami reciprocated, unconsciously rubbing his tongue against Aomine's. It was his own moan, low and needy, that brought him back to his senses. His hands fumbled between them, pushing hard against Aomine's chest with all of his strength, dislodging the bigger were.

Free of the embrace, Kagami spun on his heels and ran. The room offered no hiding place, his only chance was to bust out the window on the opposite side. He only made it halfway. Aomine tackled him from behind, knocking his feet out from under him. He hit the floor hard, face plunging into the violently red carpet. Kagami had the hysterical thought that at least the blood wouldn't be visible, then Aomine was flipping him over, mouth at his throat, claws on his shirt.

The rending noise of his shirt tearing put him into a panic. He slammed his fists against Aomine's shoulders and tried to get his knee up so he could plunge it into the panther's stomach, or his balls. His struggles only provoked Aomine. The edges of his tattered shirt were swept away and Aomine's mouth, his fangs, were on Kagami's chest.

Thrusting his hands into Aomine's hair, Kagami ignored how soft it felt and pulled, hard. Hard enough to yank some strands out. Aomine growled against his skin, a warning, a threat. He bit down, piercing Kagami's flesh, tasting his blood. It made him go wild, biting and licking all over Kagami's chest and shoulders. Sometimes with enough force to draw blood, other times only bruising. It was painful, but the tiger inside him welcomed the pain as proof its mate was strong enough to subdue it and therefore strong enough to protect it.

Aomine's breath roughened with each mark he made. His hands were everywhere. Flicking Kagami's nipples, scratching down his ribs, delving into his shorts and underwear. Garments that the excited panther ripped effortlessly like they were tissue. Kagami's dick, entirely without his consent, hardened brutally, weeping and desperately craving solace. Aomine gave it to him, brushing against his cock, palming the rigid staff as he continued to bite and suck on Kagami's torso.

The touch on his cock made Kagami groan, made him arch into Aomine, made him want what he shouldn't be wanting. He'd never had sex before, too scared to get close to anyone, too afraid of the possibility of somehow running into the mate he never asked for. All the sensations spreading over his body were new, intense, devastating. Kagami hadn't known he could feel so much so fast.

He raised his fists, intending strike Aomine again, but his fingers uncurled and dug into those broad shoulders as Aomine slid a thumb across the tip of his penis, spreading around the pre-cum already leaking there.

"Stop," Kagami panted, but both of them understood what he was really saying. _More_.

Aomine gave it to him. Fingers dancing over Kagami's steamy, rigid flesh, Aomine stroked and pumped, circling his cock with strong, knowing movements. Kagami felt the panther must have done this before, done this to others, and his beast snarled, angry at the thought that its mate had once belonged to someone else. _Never again_ , it growled, and Kagami wasn't aware those words spilled out from his lips.

Growling back, Aomine rubbed his cheek against one of Kagami's nipples, scent-marking the tiger. His tongue, rough and raspy, grazed across the small disc. Kagami bucked at the pleasure the warm, wet touch shot through him. Aomine made another sound, one of approval and satisfaction. He took the nipple into his mouth, drew it between his teeth, tugging on it in counterpoint to the movement of his hand below.

Tossing his head back and forth, Kagami could no longer remember why this was wrong, no longer remember why he had resisted. His nails scraped down Aomine's back, pulling him closer. His tail tried move, tried to present his ass for fucking, but it was trapped beneath him. He bared his teeth in frustration, bringing his hands back to Aomine's head, yanking it up meet his unrestrained, urgent kiss.

Thrusting his tongue past Aomine's teeth, he licked and tasted the inside of his mate's mouth. Yes, _his_ mate, no one else's. Aomine didn't let him have the lead for long, taking control of the kiss with a crushing force that made all of Kagami's limbs turn to jelly. His lips ate and sucked, his teeth nipped, his tongue coiled and lashed, forcing Kagami's to mate with it. Kagami groaned into his mouth and brought his own teeth into play, closing over Aomine's bottom lip, biting so deeply he drew blood.

It was his first sip of the panther's blood, and the spicy taste ignited a fire in his belly he didn't think could ever be put out. His fingers scratched and raked over Aomine's skin, drawing blood there, too, but neither of them noticed. They ground their erections together, pumping and rolling their hips with rough, wild motions. One of Kagami's hands left Aomine's back, slipped between, folded over Aomine's cloth-covered cock.

That one, small touched pushed Aomine past his limits. With a savage cry he jerked away, ridding himself of his clothes, tossing Kagami back onto his stomach, then pulling him to his hands and knees. _Yes!_ This is what the beast inside Kagami wanted. He lifted his tail, curling it away, exposing his ass. Head hanging, he arched his neck, baring it as well.

Fangs scraped over his spine, nipped at the small of his back, sank into the hard muscle of his ass. He brought his hand to his aching, needy cock, wanting relief, but Aomine batted his hand away.

" _Mine!_ " he growled against the Kagami's butt, replacing Kagami's hand with his own once more.

Kagami thrust into his hand, needing release, desperately needing to cum, even though it had been less than an hour since he had orgasmed in that park. He heard Aomine spit, felt the panther's other hand slip between his cheeks, spreading them apart, and then a wet finger was slipping inside him. Kagami trembled so hard he nearly threw Aomine off him.

Hissing like the giant cat he was, Aomine pulled the finger out and added another. It was tight and painful and not nearly enough to quench the fire raging inside Kagami. He pushed back, searching for something, something he didn't understand. Aomine understood. Pushing yet another finger into Kagami's body, he hooked the ends and twisted, hitting a place inside Kagami that had him seeing stars, had him howling as sizzling currents of electricity pulsed through him.

"That's enough." Aomine's voice was thick and feral.

His fingers withdrew. The hand on Kagami's dick slid up to his hip. The other guided Aomine's erection to his entrance. Sanity briefly returned at the feel of Aomine's hard, massive cock prodding him.

"No—," he cried out, knowing it was useless, knowing it was too late, hoping for a miracle, not getting it as Aomine plunged into him.

It hurt, gods it hurt, that burning, hard length that was parting him, filling him. It hurt, but ... it also made him feel complete, whole. His tail wrapped around Aomine's arm, holding him, and Kagami undulated, causing Aomine to slide all the way home.

He whimpered. Aomine groaned. And suddenly they were moving together, Aomine ramming into him over and over, each powerful thrust rocking him, scraping that sweet spot again and again. The fingers on his hip bit into his flesh, bruising him, adding to the still bleeding marks and scratches on his body, but Kagami didn't care. He was feeling good now, feeling pleasure from Aomine's strokes.

With savage intent, Aomine rode him. Pushing in, sliding out, driving him into a frenzy of lust and need. Kagami slammed back, knees getting a severe case of carpet burn, an insignificant annoyance compared to the heat swelling inside him.

" _Please oh please oh please!_ " He chanted, begging, not really knowing what he was begging for.

"Yes, yes, _now!_ " Aomine shouted, draping his body over Kagami's back and biting down on the nape of his neck. The fangs had barely pierced his skin and then Kagami was cumming, exploding, ecstasy like he had never felt before sweeping over him. The spot where Aomine's mouth was closed over his neck throbbed, tingled, burned. Pleasure radiating out from there, all the way down his spine, circling around to his groin. His cock jerked and twitched, drenching the floor with his seed.

Groans more akin to growls rumbling from his throat, Aomine's hips jackhammered against Kagami's ass, actually pushing him across the floor, and suddenly he was shuddering, flooding Kagami's insides with his cum.

Aomine was overjoyed, satisfied, happy. Kagami knew this not just because he could scent it on the air, but because he felt it, _all_ of it. All of Aomine's emotions poured into him, swamping him as the mate bond snapped in place between them. The feelings were too intense, too deep, too much. Kagami's arms and knees gave out and he slumped to the floor, darkness swallowing him, sending him into blissful unconsciousness.

 

TBC


	5. Regret

Kagami thought he just might understand now how someone with split personalities felt.

Two diametrically opposed voices were screaming in his head. One wanted him to fly into a fury, rage and smash everything in his sight, roar his pain and anguish out like the wounded animal he was. The other voice urged him to cuddle against the panther beside him, wrap that intoxicating scent around his body, purr in blissful contentment.

The two urges were fighting for control, and it felt like the battle was ripping his soul apart .

It would be so much easier, so much better if he could just resign to his fate, follow along like a good little mate. Unfortunately, he had never been good at following anyone else’s lead, and he just couldn’t readily accept that he was bound forever to some brutal stranger, not when he could still feel blood seeping from the wounds on his chest and semen trickling out of his sore ass.

He couldn’t lie to himself, though, as much as he wanted to. Pain wasn’t the only thing he had felt during that rough, violent joining. There had been pleasure, a pleasure that short-circuited every nerve ending in his body. He had been willing, more than willing, by the end. The bruises and bites and scratches didn’t even hurt anymore, would be gone in a day due to his shifter’s accelerated healing ability.

Even when they faded, however, he would be left with proof of what had taken place. The mark, the  _mating_  mark, on his neck would never disappear, just like the detestable bond it represented.

“You’re sad,” a voice that rolled over him like warm water murmured near his ear as Aomine lifted a hand to cup his face.

Glancing to the side, Kagami saw Aomine looking at him, a mix of warmth and concern in his dark blue gaze. The need to lean into that hand, rub his face over it, was almost irresistible. It pissed him off. The panther had no business looking at him that way, hadn’t earned the right. Dredging up willpower from some inner reserve of strength he didn’t know he had left, Kagami batted the hand away.

“Quit reading my emotions, dammit! It feels like I’ve been raped all over again.”

It was a harsh, mean accusation. He knew it. Aomine was as much of a victim to their physiology as he was. The only difference was the other shifter seemed to welcome it while Kagami reviled it with every fiber of his being.

Hurt flashed through Aomine’s eyes before he lowered his lashes, hiding the orbs from view. He couldn’t hide his emotions, however, not from the same bond that let him feel Kagami’s every reaction. Pain and sorrow and anger lashed at the tiger. Kagami fought his instincts which pressed him to both lower his head  _and_  to provide comfort to his mate, put his arms around Aomine and hold him close. He had to snap his teeth around the apology that rose unbidden to his lips.

Dropping his hand, Aomine jerked to his feet, nude and unashamed, a dark, cruelly beautiful god. Kagami’s crimson gaze roved helplessly over him, taking in the smooth, dusky skin, the perfectly proportioned muscles, the long, lean arms and legs, the flat, washboard stomach, and of course the thick, erect penis curving out from his pelvis. It was still rigid, still swollen, still wet and glistening from their sexual activity.

Heat suffusing his body, Kagami unconsciously licked his lips. Black satisfaction pulsed down that invisible chain that stretched between them, blanketing him and forcing his eyes back to Aomine’s face. A nasty, mirthless smile twisted those firm lips.

“Can’t rape the willing, Kagami,” he almost taunted.

Unmindful of his own nudity, Kagami jumped up as well and glared at Aomine. “I’m not willing, asshole!”

“Aren’t you?” Aomine lifted an eyebrow, finger reaching out to flick one of Kagami’s nipples. To his shame, it hardened immediately. “I can smell the perfume of your arousal on the air, feel it through the tie that binds us. Your mouth can spout all the denials it wants, but your body can’t lie.” Aomine rubbed his nipple again, making him quiver.

Grabbing the hand and pulling it away from his chest, Kagami cried out, “Maybe. But I don’t  _want_  to want you, can’t you see that?”

“And can’t  _you_  see that it doesn’t matter what you want, or what I want?” Aomine jerked his arm, yanking Kagami, who was still holding his hand, off balance until their bodies crashed together. “We can’t change what we are, what’s happened.  We can only try to make the best of the situation.”

Kagami spit out an ugly laugh, even as his cock stirred to life, the feel of Aomine’s warmth and flesh jump starting that burning, desperate desire in him once again. “There’s no way I can do that, not when you’ve stolen my free will!”

Aomine speared his hands into Kagami’s hair, dragging his face forward, so close their breath mingled together. “I didn’t steal anything. The gods gave you to me, and me to you. It’s a blessing, you stupid bastard!”

“It’s not a blessing,” Kagami denied hoarsely, reaching up to gouge his nails over the hands holding him prisoner, “it’s a curse!”

The room went silent, the only sounds coming from their heavy breathing and the frantic beating of Kagami’s heart

Finally Aomine spoke, and his voice was as quiet as death itself. “Please stop pushing me. I don’t want to hurt you.” Tension tasting of lust and fury radiated out from him.

That arousal and anger swirled around Kagami, the scent filling his lungs, the heat scorching his body. Though he would be horrified later at his actions, he suddenly wanted to push Aomine, test the panther’s limits, make him unleash all that fire and rage.

His thoughts turned hazy, cognitive reasoning diminishing rapidly. It was the beast inside him, Kagami knew. It wanted to dominate or be dominated, it didn’t care which, as long as it could rut with its mate.

Understanding didn’t help him, and he had to act, had to obey the primal urge.

Knowing it would probably cut the cord of Aomine’s restraints and give his tiger what it wanted, he struggled against the other’s grip and flung out recklessly, “You’re very  _existence_  hurts me!”

Aomine flinched, his nostrils flared, ears flattening against his head. His eyes widened, the edges turning green, the pupils elongating. With a snarl, he slammed Kagami back against the wall, cracking  that red head against the plaster because of the violent motion. The pain was just a minor nuisance. Kagami’s senses were overwhelmed by Aomine as the other were crushed their bodies together and took his mouth in a vicious, sizzling kiss.

He could practically feel his tiger against the inside of his skin, purring and rubbing. It welcomed the aggressive embrace, reveled in it, and wanted more.

There was not even a pretense of resistance this time. Kagami’s feral side, the side with fur and teeth and claws, took over.  _He_  bit down on Aomine’s lip.  _He_  delved his tongue into Aomine’s mouth, sweeping over those sharp teeth, licking and tasting, growling as he plunged deeper.  _His_  hands crawled over Aomine’s back, down to the tight, firm ass below, and dug his nails into the muscled flesh, pulling his mate closer, grinding their erections together, tail whipping madly against the wall.

On the other side of that voracious kiss, Aomine tried to regain some measure of control. This wasn’t what he wanted, not again. The next time they joined, he had planned on being gentle, considerate, hoping to convey all the wonder and happiness he felt at finding his mate, at finding Kagami. The tiger hadn’t let him.

Deliberately challenging him, deliberately driving him to respond with hard, sexual punishment instead of tender loving. His beast recognized what Kagami was doing, and it hissed in approval even as it panted with the need to dominate, force its mate to submit once more.

It was no use trying to fight it, no use in trying to resist the Alpha male ingrained in his very DNA. Regrets were for later, when his cock wasn’t demanding he sheathe in Kagami’s tight, gorgeous body.

Grabbing a handful of that vibrant, red hair, Aomine yanked Kagami's head to the side, dragging his mouth from those sweet lips to the vulnerable neck below. And Kagami let him.

He kissed a burning trail down that smooth flesh, over the pulse racing wildly there. The panther crouching right below his thin veneer of civility roared, primal satisfaction that it could either rip out that vein or let the tiger live echoing in the call. His mate had shown its throat, made itself vulnerable, the ultimate sign of submission. The panther was pleased, and so was Aomine.

With his faced buried in Kagami’s neck, the redhead’s delicious, inviting scent surrounded him, seeped into his pores. He inhaled deeply, that warm, sweet smell more addicting than the strongest catnip. His blood was boiling, his body craving, needing to bury itself over and over into Kagami. 

Aomine was hard, ready, and raw with animalistic passion.

Breathing rough and ragged, he nibbled Kagami’s neck, down to the muscled shoulder, using his fist in Kagami’s hair to turn the tiger’s head so he could reach the mark,  _his_  mark.

Mouth closing over it, he skimmed his hands down his mate’s chest, thumbing small, erect nipples on his way. His hands roved lower, finding the short, crisp curls between Kagami’s thighs. He tugged lightly on them, drawing a gasp from the other shifter’s mouth, and then he moved lower again, circling his fingers around the velvety, hard shaft. The sound coming from Kagami’s mouth was almost a purr as he thrust his dick into Aomine’s hand.

That rumbling vibration prickled across the bigger shifter's skin, and he went a little crazy.

Letting go of Kagami’s cock, he pinned the tiger to the wall with his weight and lifted those long, toned legs, wrapping them around his waist with quick, forceful movements. He sank a finger inside Kagami’s ass, finding it still wet and relaxed from their earlier bout. There was no need to prepare, then. Good. He didn't have the patience anyway With one, powerful thrust, he drove deep.

Kagami’s sharp cry echoed Aomine’s low moan as the panther filled and stretched him to the limit. Aomine knew Kagami was probably sore, bruised inside, but he couldn’t stop. The tiger was hot and wet and so very tight around him, and he had to move, had thrust hard and fast and furiously.

Hips hammering violently, he pounded Kagami into the wall, but his mate didn’t protest. Instead, Kagami bit and scratched and kissed Aomine’s face, shoulders, and back, every part of the panther he could reach. He rocked his ass, pushing Aomine deeper, moaning and growling as he moved.

Aomine couldn’t take anymore.

Grabbing his mate’s wandering hands, Aomine slammed them over his head as he kissed him, grinding his cock into Kagami’s body until he threw back his head and shouted, pumping out his seed over both their stomachs. The hard kick of release hit Aomine, too, pushed over the edge by his mate's orgasm. He sealed their lips together again, tasting Kagami’s climax, and groaned his pleasure into that hot, wet mouth.

When he finished, he collapsed against the other shifter, legs watery from his orgasm. Without thinking, he brushed a soft, gentle kiss over Kagami’s shoulder. The tiger shivered and actually leaned into him, into that tender gesture.

It was all too brief though. Reality washed over them, and Aomine felt rejection begin to well up inside his mate. He reluctantly slipped out of Kagami, and stepped away.

Not meeting his eyes, Kagami mumbled quietly, “I would like to take a shower, please. I’m sweaty and sticky.”

Aomine’s hands lifted in an aborted movement, wanting to comfort his mate, not knowing how, knowing it wouldn’t be welcomed even if he tried. He just nodded and then cleared his throat.

“You’re, ah, clothes are kind of ruined. I will run out and get you some while you shower.”

Kagami winced at the reminder, but inclined his head sharply, turning his back on Aomine and walking stiffly to the bathroom.

Aomine almost called him back, almost threw his arms around that broad, slumped, dejected back, but he dug his nails into his palm and spun on his heel, using the tattered remains of Kagami’s shirt to wipe himself off before he shrugged back into his own clothes.

Only when he heard the shower turn on did he leave the room, wondering how he could fix this mess, how he could make Kagami, if not love him, at least  _like_ him enough to find contentment in their bond. Wondering if  _he_  could come to love the tiger, too. No answer was forthcoming, however, as he left the hotel and headed toward the mini-mart next door.

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, someone asked about the shifters and if/why/how their tails were always visible. That's because this is like a parallel world. In the Middle Ages, when the black plague hit, it was a million times more deadly than what we experienced. It killed off about 80% of the human population, and all the preternatural beings saw it as their chance to come out of hiding and take over. Shifters had been hiding in deep forests and mountains and caves, mostly unseen by humans because they couldn't blend in like witches and wizards and vampires. There are still some humans left, but they are not the majority.


	6. Rage

Kagami was sitting on the edge of the bed, towel wrapped around his hips, when Aomine returned with a bag full of clothes. Okay, he  _might_  have gone just a bit overboard, but when he had seen an actual shopping center across from the mini-mart, the primal instinct to provide the best for his mate kicked in. He wasn’t going to dress Kagami in cheap convenience store rags when he could give the tiger designer yet functional clothing.

Spending ¥24,000 was probably excessive, but when he had found the dark blue polo with a panther logo on the upper right side, Aomine had known right then that he wanted to see Kagami in it. The faded jeans were an indulgence. He was sure they would cup his mate’s ass tightly, showing off the firm, muscled cheeks, and he almost salivated at the thought. Ah, but the silk boxers, those might have been a mistake. Yet when he imagined the feel of them brushing against his naked cock, sweat actually broke out on his forehead.

He’d had to think of something disgusting to get his body back under control. Couldn’t wander around a fancy clothing store sporting a raging hard-on. The time he’d walked in on Akashi and Murasakibara back at Teikō did the trick, deflating his erection in an instant.

However, when he came through that hotel door and saw Kagami waiting, the mating mark vivid and pronounced against the tawny skin of his shoulder, he was once more assailed by a desire so strong, so wild, so deep that it took everything he had not to pounce on the tiger again.

Of course, Kagami could smell his heat, his arousal. Their eyes met and an answering flame flickered in those beautiful red eyes before Kagami lowered his lashes, shuttering his gaze.

Taking a deep, calming breath, Aomine walked up to him and handed the bag of clothes over.

“Um, here. We’re pretty much the same size, so these should fit. I tried them on to make sure.”

Aomine resisted the urge to fidget. He hadn’t tried on the clothes at the store  _just_  to make sure they would fit Kagami. He wanted to put his scent on them, wanted the tiger to walk around smelling like him. It satisfied some savage need burning inside him.

With a muttered thanks, Kagami stood up and dropped the towel. He reached into the bag, pulling out the underwear.

Aomine took a step back, putting some distance between them even as his eyes roved hungrily over Kagami’s gorgeous, muscled body. “Ah, you’re going to get dressed right here?”

Flicking a glance his way, Kagami slipped into the boxers, shrugging fatalistically when he was done. “No point in getting shy now. Not when I’m still wearing the marks from your fangs and claws all over my flesh.”

Flinching a little, Aomine looked at Kagami’s body again, not with lustful eyes but with concern. It was true. The other shifter was covered in bruises and bites and scratches. They would heal in a day or two (or sooner if Kagami shifted) all but the mating bite, but that wasn’t the point. Here was the proof he hadn’t been able to control his bestial nature. He felt sick at the signs of his brutality, yet the panther inside him roared in triumph at the evidence it had claimed its mate.

“I’m,” he cleared his throat and started again, the words he was about to say foreign and uncomfortable on his lips, “I’m …sorry.” He reached out, lighting touching the bite mark around Kagami’s left nipple.

Shuddering, Kagami submitted to the touch, his own lust perfuming the air now. “Sorry for what? That you mated with me?” His voice was hoarse.

“No, gods no!” The denial exploded from Aomine in a panic. He grabbed Kagami’s arms and pulled him close, their bodies fitting perfectly as if they had been made for each other. Which, in a sense, they had been. “Never that! I’m happy and amazed and thankful that I found my mate, that I found someone as beautiful as  _you_. I’m just sorry I hurt you in the process.”

He wasn’t one for flowery words or sappy romance, and he was embarrassed just uttering the stuff, but his pride was secondary to his mate’s happiness.

“It was inevitable that you hurt me,” Kagami answered, but he leaned into Aomine’s embrace, his need for comfort and Aomine’s need to give it overriding everything else.

They stayed that way for several minutes, until Aomine’s lower half began demanding attention. While he wanted nothing more than to make love with his mate, sink into Kagami’s tight, damp heat again, he knew the other shifter needed some space. It almost killed him, but Aomine gave it to the tiger.

Easing back, he managed a lopsided grin. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. After you get dressed, want to grab some food? I saw a Maji burger on our way here. I really like the burgers there.”

As if on cue, Kagami’s stomach rumbled furiously.

Laughing, a husky, a musical, happy laugh that lit up his whole face, giving him a boyish charm so at odds with his domineering personality, Aomine declared, “Well, I guess that answers my question.”

A faint blush on his cheeks, Kagami turned around, giving Aomine his back while he pulled on the rest of his clothing. It struck the panther for the first time that his mate was actually …  _cute_!

Now that the initial, overwhelming drive to seal their bond had been assuaged, Aomine could see the tiger wasn’t just incredibly sexy, but wonderfully adorable, too. From his fluffy black and orange ears, to his sleek tail, Kagami begged to be squeezed and cuddled like a kitten. Aomine was at least smart enough not to say his thoughts out loud. He was pretty sure his mate wouldn’t take kindly to being compared to a kitten, or being called cute again.

When he finished dressing, Kagami sat back down on the bed to put his sneakers on. Aomine looked at that bent, red head and suddenly leaned over, brushing a kiss over his hair. Kagami jerked, almost head-butting him in the chin.

“What was that for?” Kagami rubbed his head where Aomine had kissed him, looking uncomfortable and embarrassed.

Aomine was embarrassed as well. Such tender gestures were simply not like him. Turning away, lest his own blush betray him, he hunched his shoulders. “I just felt like it,” he mumbled.

“I … see,” Kagami replied, but it was clear by his voice that he didn’t, not really.

Well, neither did Aomine. He wasn’t the type to be sweet or kind. Kagami was mixing him up, making him want to pin the other were down and fuck him raw, and also making him want to snuggle and hold the tiger gently. He wasn’t used to this lack of control over his own emotions. It was as exhilarating as it was frightening.

“Ready?” he asked, pushing his discomfiting thoughts aside to be examined at another time.

Kagami slid off the bed, moving to Aomine’s side. He hesitated a moment, but then inquired softly, “Aren’t you going to take a shower, too?”

The panther was shaking his head before Kagami finished. “No. I like having your scent on me. I want to wear it as long as possible. Hell, I may never even shower again.

Moving two steps to the left, Kagami scrunched his nose. “Eww, that’s gross, dumbass.”

The insult rolled effortlessly off his tongue, and by the widening of his eyes, it actually startled Kagami.

What Aomine couldn’t know was that Kagami only used the crude designation on people he felt comfortable with, like Kuroko and, to a lesser extent, Kise. It meant something, the way he so easily reverted to this speech pattern with Aomine. Just what, the tiger didn’t really know yet.

“I’m just kidding. Maybe,” Aomine replied with a chuckle, opening the door to motion Kagami out.

He left the small, dingy room, the site of his claiming, the start of his life of bondage, without looking back.

The click of the lock behind them was like a death knell in his ears, and yet … and yet, Kagami felt the weight that had been pressing so heavily on his chest ease. Almost like he was relieved at the finality of it all, of leaving that room and going out into the world as Aomine Daiki’s mate. Ridiculous, definitely, but he couldn’t deny what he was feeling, not even if he wanted to.

They didn’t really speak as they walked to the burger joint, Aomine seeming content to just walk beside him, so close their arms and legs bumped into each other. Each time Kagami put a few centimeters of distance between them, Aomine just slid back inside his space. By the fifth time, he gave up and let the panther do what he wanted. He was still attempting to come to terms with everything that happened anyway, leaving him little room to care about Aomine’s personal bubble problem.

Aomine had been right, there was a Maji Burger just within a few blocks from the hotel. Kagami’s eyes lit up and his ears perked when it came into view. He was absolutely starving. His teammates, especially Kuroko, would say he was  _always_  hungry, and maybe it was true. He burned up a ton of calories constantly training and playing basketball, and needed to refuel often.

His hunger this time, though, was different. No doubt brought on by the wild, intense sex he’d spent the last hours drowning in. That thought brought images of Aomine’s finely muscled flesh sliding over him, on him,  _in_  him. His damn dick twitched and he ruthlessly shoved mental pictures away, not wanting everyone, including Aomine, to smell his desire.

Too late. Aomine turned to stare at him, nose flaring, a light gleaming in his dark blue eyes.

“ _Kagami_.”

His name, spoken in Aomine’s low, honey-smooth voice, danced over his skin, caressing his ears, pouring straight into his soul. Kagami trembled, gulping loudly.

“Don’t start. Not here,” he whispered, unaware he was leaning toward Aomine.

With a lazy smile, Aomine lifted his hand, rubbing one long, lean finger over Kagami’s bottom lip.

“ _You_  started it, Kagami. It would be rude if I didn’t respond to your invitation.”

“Dammit, I didn’t—.”

Kagami’s protest was interrupted as another voice, soft and mild, intruded. “Please consider where you are, Kagami-kun, Aomine-kun. It would be bad if you both were arrested for public indecency.”

Snapping his head around, Kagami discovered Kuroko and Kise standing a few meters away. Kise looked slightly uncomfortable.

“What are you doing here, Kise, Tetsu?” Aomine groused, turning to glower at the pair.

“Er, we were hungry after we …,” Kise trailed off, a slight flush staining his face.

“I can smell what you were doing,” the panther grunted.

Kagami could smell it, too. Kise and Kuroko had been engaged in the same activity as he and Aomine, though the love and contentment wafting off them was very different from the confusion and uneasiness he was emitting.

Kuroko looked blank as always, at least for a few seconds. His pale eyes abruptly narrowed and he stuck his nose in the air, sniffing delicately.

“I smell blood. Kagami-kun’s blood, though there is a faint scent of Aomine-kun’s blood as well.”

Kise looked uncertainly between all three of them. Covering Kuroko’s hand with his own, he murmured, “Kurokocchi, maybe we should—.”

He didn’t get to finish either. In a flash, Kuroko was standing toe to toe with Kagami, his preternatural speed allowing him to run so fast many eyes wouldn’t even see him move. Kagami didn’t realize his intent until a small hand grabbed the hem of his shirt and jerked it upward.

“Kuroko, you bastard, what the hell are you doing?” Kagami tried to swat his hand away.

Aomine growled low in his throat. “Tetsu, don’t make me remove that hand.”

Kuroko ignored both of them, eyes focused with laser intensity on Kagami’s torso. After a few seconds, he gently lowered Kagami’s shirt and lightly petted the tiger, a comforting gesture.

Aomine growled again, but the growl twisted into a loud  _oomph_. Kuroko had turned to the panther, pulled back his arm, and punched Aomine straight in the gut. The bigger shifter actually went flying, landing on his ass with a hard thud.

Instinct sent Kagami running to Aomine’s side, kneeling beside him and examining him carefully for actual damage.

Coughing, Aomine glared up at the little fox. “Dammit, Tetsu, what the hell is your problem?!”

“You’re the problem, Aomine-kun. I love you, but I won’t stand around while you abuse Kagami-kun,” he took a threatening step forward. Kise jogged up behind him, putting a restraining hand on his shoulder.

“Kurokocchi, we shouldn’t interfere,” he declared quietly, but the look he turned on Aomine’s was definitely unfriendly. He had seen the bruises and bite marks on Kagami as well. While he and Kuroko were known to get a little rough in their lovemaking, it was nothing like that. Never like that. He wanted to punch Aomine in the face, too.

Kagami closed his eyes, humiliation crawling over him. Kuroko and Kise knew what he had been doing, knew he and Aomine had spent the hours since their parting having sex. Of course they knew, there had been no doubt about the outcome the moment he had taken off running back at the basketball court. It was just mortifying that the other two knew he’d had his ass reamed, that he’d rolled over and taken the fucking like a tigress in heat.

Sill, Kuroko’s rage was a living, breathing thing. Kagami could feel his friend’s power whipping around them. Kuroko couldn’t stand for the ones he loved to be hurt in any way. He might look small and cute and passionless, but he was really fierce and strong and extremely dedicated to those close to him.

Aomine was also one of those individuals. Kagami had felt it when Kuroko had first looked at the panther in confusion when they'd met at the park. The fox would never forgive himself if he really injured Aomine, especially since Kagami could feel through the mate bond that the panther had no intention of fighting back. Guilt and anger pulsed down that invisible line between them, and guilt was the stronger of the two emotions.

Closing his eyes, Kagami took a deep breath and made a decision. Reaching out, he found Aomine’s hand, lacing their fingers together. He felt the other shifter’s surprise and delight, which made his own heart jump in response.

“He didn’t abuse me, Kuroko,” Kagami opened his eyes, meeting Kuroko’s glowing blue stare head on. “I … enjoyed it.”

It was a lie and it wasn’t a lie. The mate bond had made it impossible for Kagami  _not_  to feel pleasure at anything Aomine did to him, though his mind had hated the whole thing. Not because of Aomine or what he was doing to Kagami, but because of the shackles the act put on him.

The stinging sensation of Kuroko’s aura lessened, the fire in his eyes dissipating.

“You are not telling the entire truth, Kagami-kun, but I can smell your sincerity and discomfort. I will back down,” he turned his piercing blue gaze on Aomine and warned, “for today, at least. If at any time I feel Kagami-kun is endangered by you, Aomine-kun, I won’t go easy on you.”

Aomine stared back at him, but suddenly broke into loud amused laughter, holding his stomach and wincing almost immediately.

“Ouch, ah that hurt, dammit.” He rubbed his belly and slowly stood up, still chuckling, but holding tight to Kagami’s hand in the process.

“Alright, alright. I get it, Tetsu. I promise to never deliberately hurt Kagami in any way that he objects to. Is that good enough for you?”

Kuroko eyed him silently, then nodded. Kise sighed in relief, hugging the smaller were to him.

“Great, that’s great. Then why don’t we all go inside and get something to eat. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I sure could use a burger right about now. “

Everyone ignored him, including Kuroko, causing the blond wolf to pout slightly.

Releasing Kagami’s fingers, Aomine threw an arm over the tiger’s shoulder, pulling him close. Kagami stiffened but let him, not wanted to give Kuroko any more ammunition for his anger.

“Remember this, though, Tetsu,” Aomine’s voice was low and deadly earnest. “I may be your friend, and Kagami may be your friend, but he is  _my_  mate. Interfere too much, and you won’t enjoy the consequences.”

“Now, wait just a minute, Aominecchi,” Kise burst in, unwilling to let the barely concealed threat slide, “I told you earlier, I won’t let you talk like that to Kurokocchi.” His burnished eyes began to glimmer with amber fire.

Kuroko glanced over his shoulder and smiled gently, reaching up to touch one of the wolf’s golden ears.

“It’s alright, Kise-kun. Aomine-kun and I understand each other, and that’s enough for now.”

“But he—,” Kise wasn’t going to be thwarted that easily, the need to defend his mate riding him hard.

Kuroko knew just how to divert him, however, interrupting him with a soft, “Please, Kise-kun,” and peering up at him with those wide, round, puppy eyes that stabbed right into his heart.

Overcome by his adorableness, Kise squeezed Kuroko hard and sighed, “Okay, if Kurokocchi says so, I won’t get angry.”

“That hurts, Kise-kun,” Kuroko complained quietly in response, but laid his head on his mate’s chest and hugged him back.

Kagami watched them, not knowing the envy and longing flashing across his face was quite visible to the person at his side. It made Aomine a bit optimistic, that fleeting expression. If Kagami unconsciously wanted what Kise and Kuroko had, there just might be hope for the two of them as well.

“Enough of this standing around jabbering. Let’s get some food before we start eating each other. I’m personally not in the mood for canine tartare,” he stated abruptly, his merry tone belying the harshness of his words.

The tension between the four of them eased, and they all went into the restaurant., Kise grumbling about Aomine's tasteless jokes along the way.

An hour and a half later, they walked out. Rather, the other three walked and Kagami sort of waddled, holding his stomach and groaning.

“Ugh, I think I ate too much.”

Aomine was staring at him, shock and awe on his handsome face.

“You think?! You ate thirty-seven burgers.  _Thirty-seven!_ ”

He’d had no idea his mate might harbor such a huge, insatiable appetite. When they went up to the counter, Aomine had offered to buy Kagami’s food, but the tiger was adamant about paying for himself. A little annoyed that he wasn’t allowed to provide one, simple meal for his mate, Aomine had grouched and stalked off to the table where Kise and Kuroko were already waiting. His ire changed to disbelief when Kagami showed up at the table bearing a tray overflowing with burgers. There were so many, they formed a pyramid taller than his head. Stunned, Aomine could only watch silently while Kagami quickly and a bit messily put away each and every one of those burgers. The tiger surely must have broken a record of some kind, eating that much in once sitting.

“But I was hungry,” Kagami countered, then groaned again.

“Uh huh,” Aomine shook his head, reaching out to poke Kagami in the stomach.

The red-head responded by burping and bending over slightly. “What was that for, asshole?”

“I just wanted to make sure that you really had a stomach and not a black hole in the center of your body.”

Kise snickered and even Kuroko managed a small smile. He looked at the two cats, at Aomine’s face, wearing a mixture of amusement and astonishment, at Kagami, who tried to punch Aomine in the arm but missed as his stomach protested loudly. Kuroko’s concern abated just a bit, and his smile stretched wider. Maybe it would be okay after all.

The thought had scarcely crossed his mind when a car pulled up to the curb, three males piling out. Kuroko could tell by their scent that two were humans and one was a werecat of some kind. A quick glance at the spotted ears and tail revealed the shifter as a cheetah.  _Oh no!_  Kuroko’s heart leapt into his throat, and so did Aomine’s.

He recognized the cheetah stench as soon as the car door opened. His father was currently in a tussle with the head of the cheetahs for leadership of all the cat clans in Tokyo and the surrounding cities. There had been some hard words and nasty fights, but nothing really major until recently when the cheetahs threatened to take out every one he loved if Aomine’s father didn’t back down.

No one really believed him. The cheetahs risked angering the Emperor, the shifter that ruled over all other weres, if they began a true blood feud in the heart of Japan. Apparently, they were serious however, because the two humans were holding guns. Aomine sprouted claws and fangs, moving to intercept them, when the cheetah suddenly cried out.

“Get the tiger first! I can smell that dirty panther all over him. They must be mates. I want the Aomine spawn to suffer before we kill him. Let him watch his mate die right in front of his eyes.”

All the blood rushed from Aomine’s face. As the men turned their guns on Kagami, he didn’t think, his body already morphing into a large black panther as he jumped, leaping through the air at a supersonic speed in a frantic bid to get between his mate and those guns.

His cat eyes, green and iridescent, so different from his normal ones, met Kagami’s as the bullets slammed into his body. The pain was overwhelming. It felt like cold fire boiling through his veins. As his vision began to dim, he saw Kagami’s horrified expression, heard the most awful, gut-wrenching roar, watched as his mate shifted, becoming a large orange and black striped tiger. His last thought before he faded into unconsciousness was pure wonder at how magnificently beautiful his Kagami really was.

For Kagami, the whole thing happened in slow motion. One minute, Aomine was teasing him, actually teasing him about his bottomless stomach, and the next this car came roaring out of nowhere and suddenly Aomine was in front of him, bullets riddling his panther body. It was like a bad horror movie. He was frozen, his mate’s blood splattered on his face, unable to comprehend what had just happened.

Aomine hitting the ground snapped him out of his stupor. Rage, white hot and scorching, filled his vision. He was changing before he knew it, transforming into a giant, angry tiger, the clothes Aomine had bought him falling to the ground. He was big, bigger than any other tiger alive except for his father, bigger than any other cat from any other clan, and he used that bulk to ram into one of the two humans.

Four meters and 350 kg of heavy, compact muscle barreled into the man, knocking him back into the car, rocking it so hard it almost turned on its side. Kise jumped on the other human, having shifted as well, his wolf’s muzzle clamping down on the hand holding the gun, grinding flesh and muscle and bone. The man screamed, a scream echoed by Kagami as he bared his fangs at the human he’d pinned to the car and roared in his face.

Mind blank, the animal inside him taking over, all Kagami wanted to do was rip the human’s throat out, spill his blood just like he’d spilled Aomine’s blood. Humans were fodder anyway, the few million of them left on earth often doing the dirty jobs for the other species in an attempt to survive. The cheetah, terrified not only by Kise’s big, wolf form but by the largest werecat he had ever seen, dove into the driver’s s side of the car and shoved it into gear, speeding off as fast as he could.

Kagami roared again, the man he’d been about to devour falling limply to the ground as the car moved. Muscles bunching, he prepared to run after the car but Kuroko’s voice, infused with all the power he possessed, stopped the tiger, breaking through the bestial fury and reaching the semi-logical being inside.

“Kagami-kun! Don’t chase the car, please! Aomine-kun was shot with bullets filled with quicksilver. If we don’t get that poison out soon, he could die.”

Quicksilver! The bane of all shifters. While most weres, except for the very young and very old, could heal from almost any wound, even gun shots, quicksilver was different. It penetrated the body and then got into the blood, destroying the cells. Such injuries were often fatal.

Racing over to where the panther lay panting shallowly, Kagami put a paw on Aomine’s back and mewled. Blood pooled thickly beneath that still form. This couldn’t be happening. Finding his mate, forced against his will to complete the bond, and then losing that mate all within the same afternoon. He couldn’t bear it.

“…ami-Kun. Kagami-kun!” Kuroko’s insistent prodding finally made him raise his massive head. Determination, fear, and cold wrath filled the fox’s shimmering blue eyes. “There’s someone who can save Aomine-kun, but we need to move fast. Can I lift him up?”

He put his hands under Aomine’s blood-soaked belly, causing Kagami to hiss and show his fangs. Someone touching his mate, his injured mate, reignited the raging storm inside him.

Kuroko didn’t move his arms, but tilted his head, baring his vulnerable neck to Kagami, showing the tiger he was submissive, at least at this moment. Kagami butted his head against Kuroko’s neck, earning a warning growl from Kise. He ignored it, inhaling the fox’s scent, finding nothing but noble intentions in that musky fragrance. Moving back, he gave a coughing roar of assent.

Lifting Aomine’s large, panther frame like it weighed nothing, Kuroko turned to Kise. “You and Kagami-kun won’t be able to change back until tomorrow, but we need to bring those humans with us. Can you drag them along without killing them?”

He sounded as if he would be kind of glad if the wolf  _did_  actually kill them, and the deadly look in Kise’s amber eyes as he stared at the humans said he might just do it. But, he finally glanced back at Kuroko and barked.

What neither of them knew was that Kagami could actually shift back if he wanted to, the uniqueness of his line enabling him to change back and forth without the twenty-four hour limit most other weres had. He didn’t want to shift, though, not when his mate might still be in danger from that cheetah or other enemies. The colossal tiger could better protect Aomine than his humanoid figure could. He wasn’t going to change back until he knew the panther was 100% safe.

“Good,” Kuroko nodded at Kise as he grabbed first one human, then the other, by their arms, dragging them roughly over to where the fox was standing.  “We need to get out of here before the police arrive, and we need to get Aomine-kun treated quickly before it’s too late.”

As they stared into each other’s eyes, some form of silent communication seemed to pass between them. Kuroko nodded again, taking one step and then another, careful not to jar the panther in his arms. “Yes, we’re going to see Akashi-kun. He’s the only one who can save Aomine-kun now.”

Kagami had heard the name Akashi before, knew he had been the captain of the basketball team when Kuroko had been at Teikō, but that was it. Neither Kise nor Kuroko seemed inclined to talk about him, and Kagami had never pushed. Now, he didn’t care who this Akashi was, as long as he could heal Aomine like Kuroko seemed to believe. He used his teeth to round up his and Kise's fallen clothes, not wanting to leave them behind, and went back to Kuroko's side. 

If he had been on two legs instead of four, he might question the irony of wanting to save the person who had completely disrupted his life, had put the chains of matehood on him against his wishes. But, he wasn’t on two legs, and all the tiger wanted was its mate alive and whole and the bastard responsible for Aomine’s wounds dead and bleeding at his feet. Those two urges sustained Kagami as he prowled next to Kuroko and Kise, watching for danger as they hastened toward their destination.


	7. Choice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akashi and Murasakibara - finally!

**_Part 6 -Choice_ **

The building Kuroko led them to was unassuming. Muted gray brick. Standard, flat roof. Unadorned windows with plain, white shutters. No identifying marks of any kind on the outside. It didn’t look like a place where someone with enough power to save Aomine might be. However, as the cliché goes, “Looks can be deceiving.” Kagami would soon find that out.

The fur along his spine stood up while he stared at the building. Power rolled off the stone and mortar structure in waves so tangible he could taste it on the air. And the scent, the scent was absolutely frightening.

Not that it smelled bad. On the contrary, it was amazing, heady, a scent reminiscent of the Middle Eastern spice shop his mother liked to frequent back in Las Angeles. Sandalwood, frankincense, saffron. The blend created a warm, exotic scent that engulfed the senses, and underneath it all was the faint aroma ash.

Yet for all its almost addictive pleasantness, there was something immensely dangerous, something daunting, something  _ancient_  in that scent. Anyone smelling it would want to bow, grovel, show his belly or throat in deference. Kagami felt like he would catch fire, burn completely up until there was nothing of him left if he stayed too long immersed in it. He didn’t realize he was emitting low, warning noises until Kuroko turned to him and shook his head.

“It will be alright, Kagami-kun,” pale, blue eyes regarded him steadily. “Akashi-kun’s scent takes some getting used to. This isn’t where he lives, just one of the buildings he stays at when he comes to town. We’ll be able to call for him once we get inside.”

Kagami wanted to shout his objection, but the tiger’s vocal chords were not made for humanoid speech. They were supposed to go in that building that reeked of danger, maybe even death, and then they were going to summon this Akashi? Aomine didn’t have time to wait! Kagami hissed instead, the only thing he could do at that moment, and the sound was muffled around the clothes still in clamped between his teeth.

Kuroko understood. “It will be alright,” he echoed with a confidence Kagami certainly didn’t feel.

Kise made a noise around the arms of the humans in his mouth. Kagami guessed it was supposed to be encouraging, but mostly it sounded like the wolf wanted to eat the two men. Kuroko shifted Aomine’s large, motionless body, preparing to ring the doorbell, but he didn’t need to. The door flew open. A giant stood there, a giant with eyes and hair the color of a violet Easter egg. He was huge, intimidating, watching them with an indifferent gaze. And he smelled like … chocolate cake?

“Murasakibara-kun,” Kuroko inclined his head, “we need to see Akashi-kun. May we come in?”

“Kuro-chin,” the behemoth acknowledged absently in an unexpectedly mellow voice, eyes flickering to the bundle in Kuroko’s arms, “and Mine-chin, and even Kise-chin.” He looked at the wolf, then turned toward Kagami. “You, I don’t know.”

He didn’t have a single, discernible trait that gave away what kind of animal he was. He could be some kind of bird, with his wings folded and tucked away under his white t-shirt and overalls, but Kagami didn’t think so. Murasakibara just didn’t give off that kind of vibe.

_Then what was he?_  Not a shifter? No, his energy was definitely of the were variety. Yet, every shifter should have some sort of noticeable attribute to indicate what beast he or she shared a soul with. That Murasakibara seemed not to have such identity markers was puzzling.

“Kagami-kun is Aomine-kun’s mate, Murasakibara-kun,” the fox explained patiently, like one speaking to a child, "and, as you can see, Aomine-kun is very hurt. May we please come inside so we can contact Akashi-kun?”

Murasakibara reached into his pocket, pulling out a cellophane covered lollipop. Unwrapping it, he stuck the candy in his mouth. “Aka-chin is already waiting for you.” His words were distorted by the sucker.

Kuroko drew s surprised breath. “Akashi-kun knew we were coming?”

“Mmm,” Murasakibara mumbled.

Kagami didn’t give a shit about this weird hulk who smelled unlike any shifter he had encountered before, or whether Akashi knew they were coming. None of it mattered. His mate was bleeding to death while they exchanged words with all the urgency of a couple of men discussing the weather. Whether his logical mind wanted the mating or not, the tiger was in a rage at the thought its mate’s life was drifting away while everyone just stood around. Growling, he butted his big head against Kuroko’s leg, trying to get the other’s attention. Kuroko blinked and shook his head.

“You are right, Kagami-kun, we need to hurry.” He looked back at Murasakibara. “May we please come in, Murasakibara-kun? Aomine-kun really needs to see Akashi-kun as soon as possible.”

“Okay,” Murasakibara stepped aside. “Aka-chin is waiting for you in the Red Room.”

Apparently, Kuroko and Kise had been here before because they walked right through door and headed for the stairs immediately to the left of the entrance. Kagami followed, keeping a careful eye on Murasakibara who lumbered silently beside him. Even though the … whatever he was smelled sweet, the aura radiating out from him was enormous. He was dangerous, too, though in a different way than the owner of the building whose scent was seeping down into the very marrow of Kagami’s bones, putting him on edge and almost crushing him under the weight of it.

He needn’t have bothered. Murasakibara didn’t make a single threatening move, munching happily on his candy and occasionally reaching one long, long arm out to pat Kagami’s head. The tiger balked at such treatment, wanting to lunge out and bite that presumptuous hand, but instinct told him that would be a very,  _very_  bad idea. Kagami had no choice but to suffer the indignity.

The stairs opened up into a long hall. There was an explosion of color here, with gilded paintings and decorative vases, tables and lamps artfully placed along each side. Even to Kagami’s untutored eyes, he could tell everything in the hall was old and expensive, ornate and beautiful without being gaudy. Whoever this Akashi was, he was evidently quite wealthy.

He was also in the room on the far right side of the hall. Kagami could smell him,  _feel_  him. Murasakibara pulled ahead of them with his wide, loping stride, reaching the room several seconds before the other three. The purple-haired giant didn’t have to knock or even announce them. A voice, smooth as silk, sweet as nectar, and infused with unwavering authority called out from the other side.

“Atsushi, please bring Tetsuya and the others in.”

Kagami wanted to run toward that voice, and just as equally he wanted to run  _from_  it. An unnerving, paradoxical feeling he did not care for at all.

Murasakibara opened the door, entering first. Kuroko went in next, panting a little. Strong though he was, toting Aomine’s dead weight for several blocks and up a long flight of stairs had to be putting a strain on him. Kagami edged in front of Kise and his human prisoners, not wanting to let Aomine out of his sight. He padded into the room, dropped his and Kise’s clothes, and then immediately stopped in his tracks.

Red, that was his first impression. The thick, plush carpet. The velvet drapes. The massive, canopied bed in the center. The two high-backed chairs. The lamp shades. Even the walls. All were a bright, vivid scarlet. Only the two bedside tables and another small, round table between the chairs were a different color. Although the rich cherry wood could almost pass for red as well.

Sitting in one of the chairs was a young male about their age. He was small, slim, probably only slightly taller than Kuroko when standing, and the power surrounding him was immeasurable. This, then, was Akashi. He appeared delicate but his strength beat at Kagami until the tiger was possessed by the need to drop his head in subservience. Only Kagami’s iron will and the beast’s concern for its mate kept his head aloft.

Ignoring the energy smashing against him like hurricane-force winds, Kagami looked hard at Akashi. His skin was very pale, his hair the same vibrant shade as the rest of the room. The fingers bringing a delicate china tea cup to his lips were long and slender. He wore traditional clothing, a golden haori over a kimono and hakama the same red as his hair. And, just like Murasakibara, there was not a single clue in his outer appearance to suggest the type of shifter he might be.

“Please lay Daiki on the bed if you would, Tetsuya,” Akashi put the cup down and looked at them. “Ryouta, hand those  _things_  over to Atsushi. Their stench is quite unpalatable. He will lock them up in a safe place, allowing us to interrogate them later.

Kuroko instantly obeyed, as did Kise. Not batting an eye, Murasakibara picked the humans up and threw them over his shoulder.

“Which room, Aka-chin?” he asked, and his tone was both affectionate and reverent.

“The cellar will do for now,” Akashi waved a dismissive hand, but his expression had softened slightly as he spoke to Murasakibara.

Smiling around his lollipop, Murasakibara nodded and left. There was clearly something special between them. Were they mates? If so, it didn’t make sense at all. While Kagami had yet to identify just what kind of shifter each of them was, he was able to tell Murasakibara and Akashi were not from the same werefamily. Cats could mate with other cats, whether their beasts were identical or not, as could canines. Thus, Kuroko the fox could mate with Kise the wolf, and Aomine the panther could claim Kagami the tiger. But, Kagami had never,  _ever_  heard of a cat mating with a wolf, a bear with a bird, and so forth. It was genetically impossible.

Further pondering was impossible. Akashi turned his gaze on Kagami, and the tiger fell into eyes the color of both a blood-red dawn and the golden sun itself. His past, his present his future. Fears, doubts. Dreams and hopes. Kagami was sure those mysterious, heterochromatic eyes saw all of it. And it burned, that deep, knowing stare. Just like a child looking into the sun, it was awful and awe-inspiring at the same time.

“So, you are Kagami Taiga,” Akashi mused. He stood up, shedding his haori with graceful movements. “I wish to converse with you, please return to your humanoid form. “

Kuroko glanced up from the bed where he had carefully placed Aomine. “Akashi-kun, neither Kagami-kun nor Kise-kun can shift back at this time. It’s only been about fifteen minutes since they changed.”

Akashi tilted his head thoughtfully. “I see. Your tiger friend has not shared all his secrets with you, Tetsuya. He can shift, at any moment he chooses, not bound like the rest of you to wait an entire day.”

Kuroko turned to Kagami. His face remained composed but his eyes were alive with surprise and a smidgen of hurt. Kagami snarled at Akashi, a sound that was instantly cut off instantly by a single look from those piercing eyes. Giving in, he centered himself and swallowed the beast. The tiger fought him, not wishing to leave its wounded mate vulnerable in the presence of so many strong beings, but Kagami forced it down, assuring the tiger as he did that he would protect Aomine. It reluctantly capitulated.

The change happened rapidly. One minute he was on four legs and covered in fur, the next he was standing upright and completely naked.

“Bastard,” he rasped at Akashi, voice rusty from the transformation.

“Kagami-kun, don’t—,” Kuroko stepped toward him, arm extended, but Akashi stopped the fox.

“It’s alright, Tetsuya. He doesn’t know who I am, what I am. I’ll be gracious and forgive him  _this_  time.”

The way he said it left no doubt to anyone in the room that Kagami would not get another chance.

Refusing to be intimidated, regardless if he still had the urge to bow before Akashi, Kagami cleared his throat.

“You’re right, Kuroko and Kise never bothered to tell me what you are, and right now I really do not care. Kuroko said you could heal Aomine, and that’s why we are here.”

Akashi walked over to Kagami, a small smile on his lips. There was no humor in his eyes, however.

“Really? You wish to save Daiki, a virtual stranger? The one who forced you to mate, who put his mark on your body quite against your will? Is that really what you want?”

He circled Kagami as he spoke, fingers reaching out to glide along the weretiger’s back and arms. The light touch burned, too. Kagami remained completely still, suddenly sure there were hidden claws in Akashi’s fingertips, claws that could slice right through him without any effort.

“I … none of that matters,” Kagami eventually answered. “What’s done is done, besides I could also die if he does.”

Stopping in front of him, Akashi’s smile widened. “What if I told you I could prevent that? That I could keep you alive even if Daiki dies? Would you still want to save him, knowing you could be free to live your life without the chains you so abhor?”

Kagami didn’t know why, but he believed Akashi. The smaller shifter somehow had the power to transcend the boundaries of their existence. For a fraction of a second, he was tempted.

All his life he had rebelled against his nature, against the thought of having his will disregarded. He could be liberated of the mate bond, of the panther who had shattered his world. It would be so easy to just let Aomine die, and so terribly wrong.

Aomine wasn’t evil. Didn’t deserve death. The gentleness he had tried to convey, the warm, youthful smile he had shown Kagami, the scent of his skin and the heat of his body. Kagami remembered all of it, and knew he didn’t want those things disappear from the world. He didn’t want  _Aomine_  to disappear. His heart actually hurt at the idea, and his soul cried out in pain.

“We’re wasting time,” he snapped, not bothering to respond to Akashi’s provocation. "It’s been almost half an hour now since Aomine was shot with quicksilver. If you can really do it, then save him. Please.”

He unconsciously tacked on the polite, deferential word just as he did with his senpai at school.  

Satisfaction blazed in Akashi’s eyes and he stepped away, moving to the bed where Aomine was still and barely breathing.

“Then it will be as you have said, Kagami, no  _Taiga_. I will save Daiki and then I will even let you have the privilege of questioning the humans. You would like that, wouldn’t you?”

The tiger, subdued but still alert, roared to life. Yes, it, he,  _they_  very much would like to speak to those humans who dared harm their mate. And, if a limb or two was severed from the pathetic creatures in the process, well so be it.

Akashi chuckled softly, a sound that made all of them unconsciously lean toward him in an attempt to share in his warmth. “I see that idea holds merit with you. Good. Daiki does not need a weak mate who hides and cringes like a newborn kitten.”

As he spoke, Akashi’s hands went to his kimono, deftly loosening it and letting it fall unheeded to the ground. When his fingers began working on his hakama, Kagami had to question him.

“What are you doing?”

“Why, I’m going to heal Daiki, of course,” Akashi replied mildly.

His pants fell away, leaving him nude before them. Kuroko looked away and Kise, who had moved to Kuroko’s side, dropped to the floor and closed his eyes. Kagami gave Akashi no such courtesy. He needed to see, needed to know what was happening.

“How are you—”

“Be quiet and watch, Taiga. You wished to know what kind of shifter I am, didn’t you? Well, I’m about to show you, only I’m not a were at all, and neither is Atsushi. Well, we are not  _technically_  shifters, but our kind are the ones who gave the gift to your species eons ago. We simply assume a humanoid appearance because that is what everyone expects.”

“Then what are you?” Kagami couldn’t help but ask, confused.

He had always believed weres had evolved from beasts into the hybrids they were, much like the humans had descended from primates. Was that not the truth? 

Akashi answered him, a certain majesty to his bearing, even unclothed as it was.

“A species that has seen the rise and fall of countless civilizations, who existed when your kind crawled out of the forest and assumed the guise of the humans who hunted you. The embodiment of life, death, and rebirth.”

He kept speaking as he eased onto the bed and covered the panther with his body.

The tiger growled at the sight of another male, a  _naked_  male, embracing its mate. Kagami tried to protest, but the words hung in his throat. Akashi started to glow, emitting a golden light that steadily grew stronger, brighter, hotter. The radiance almost blinded Kagami, yet he could not look away.

In the center of the light, Akashi began to shimmer. His arms became massive wings, his legs lethal talons. Before Kagami’s shocked eyes, the man-like body disappeared and a giant bird took its place.

With feathers a dazzling mix of orange, red, and violet hues, the creature spread its enormous wings, threw back its head, and screeched. The sound was like a sonic boom, driving Kagami to his knees with his hands over his ears. Kuroko did the same, and Kise whimpered. The bird turned to look at Kagami, and Akashi’s dual-colored gaze stared back at him, seeming to ask,  _What am I, little kitty?_

Kagami knew, had seen pictures of the mythical creature in books and movies. He hadn’t known it existed, however. Had assumed it was simply a legend from the time when humans were plentiful and still equated the unknown with religion and magic. It was fantastical, unbelievable, and yet there Akashi sat, with plumes so brilliantly iridescent that it almost hurt to look at them.

_What am I?_  Akashi’s voice repeated in his mind, and Kagami knew the mammoth bird was speaking to him telepathically.

“Phoenix,” Kagami whispered, wonder, disbelief, and veneration in his voice.

The phoenix screeched again, this time in approval, and promptly burst into flames.

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who comments, gives kudos, and bookmarks this story! You have my eternal gratitude for reading it.


	8. Second Chance

Kagami stood paralyzed for about five seconds before horror kicked in. He lunged toward the bed, his only thought to pull Aomine from those deadly flames.

“Kagami-kun, no!” Kuroko yelled, throwing his arms around Kagami’s knees, pulling the red-head back.

“Dammit, Kuroko, the bastard's burning Aomine! I need to get him out of there.”  Fear clouded his voice.

Kuroko shook his head against the back of Kagami’s legs. “No, he’s not. That’s how Akashi-kun heals. As the instrument of rebirth, the phoenix can bring someone back almost from the brink of death with his flames.”

He wasn’t convinced. Kagami couldn’t even see Aomine any longer, or Akashi for that matter. The entire bed was one roiling, crackling ball of fire. Kuroko was strong, but Kagami was stronger, desperation giving him extra power. He jerked out of Kuroko’s arms, prepared to leap onto the bed, but Kise stopped him this time with a painful nip at his naked ass.

Momentarily diverted, he turned furious eyes on the wolf. “What the hell are you doing, you stupid dog?”

Kise growled and sniffed, actually sniffed, offended by Kagami’s insult. Kuroko pushed his hand through Kise’s fur in a soothing gesture. The wolf leaned into its mate and closed its eyes.

“Just like me, Kise-kun doesn’t want you to make a mistake,” Kuroko explained, absently rubbing his hand along Kise’s back. “Look closely, you will see the bed is not burning. We don’t feel any heat either. Akashi-kun is  _saving_  Aomine-kun, not hurting him.”

Kagami hesitated, Kuroko’s words penetrating the rage and terror that had fogged his brain. Sticking out his hand, he discovered the fox was right. The glowing inferno was not hot. Torn between the desire to believe his friend and the urge to dive into that blaze and jerk Aomine out, Kagami closed his eyes. Fists clenched helplessly at his side, he inhaled repeatedly. Once a measure of calmness seeped into him, he turned around and went to pick his clothes up off the floor. While most shifters cared nothing about being naked in front of others, he was not one of them.

Shrugging into his pants, he was lifting his shirt over his head when he was hit by a pain so torturous, so severe, it drove him to his knees.

“Wh-what’s happening?” he gasped, doubling over. Sweat beaded his lip and his eyes blurred, the agony tearing through him too intense to bear.

Kuroko rolled to his feet and rushed over to Kagami’s contorted figure.

“Kagami-kun, what’s wrong?”

It was an effort to speak, but Kagami managed to whisper, “I don’t know. My body feels like it’s being cleaved in two. I can’t—“

He broke off, back twisting unnaturally, a scream on his lips. A fireball began to form in his stomach, burning his insides like acid. It grew and grew and grew, building into a scorching crescendo, until it exploded.

Kagami fell to the floor, convulsions racking his body. Kuroko hovered in concern, eyes wide with distress. After moments that seemed more like an eternity of torment, Kagami stopped twitching. The pain dissipated, leaving him exhausted and terribly empty, almost as if a piece of his soul had been stripped away. His beast roared in despair, thrashing and clawing, wanting to maul and rend, wanting something to ease the wretched loneliness now engulfing it.

Cracking open pain-shadowed eyes, Kagami was confronted with a completely clothed Akashi standing over him. Licking his parched lips, he croaked, “What did you do?”

Akashi knelt down, gently brushing sweat-soaked bangs off Kagami’s forehead. “I healed Daiki, just as you wished.”

Swallowing hard, Kagami found the strength to shake his head. “No,” he whispered roughly, “you did something else. It’s … gone.”

The phoenix smiled, but to Kagami’s unfocused gaze it looked almost melancholy. “Daiki has been reborn. In the process, certain things had to be sacrificed.”

“Bastard,” Kagami panted, “you, you had no right.”

Trailing his hand down to Kagami’s chest, Akashi clucked his tongue. “I had every right. Daiki belongs to me, just as you now do. Besides, isn’t this what you wanted, Taiga? You are free from the mate bond now. You could flee, escape, leave the city, even the country, before Daiki wakes up.”

Was that what he had really wanted? Kagami was having a hard time thinking clearly. Yet his heart vehemently protested Akashi’s words. As did the tiger inside him.

Now that he had known the taste of his mate, now that he had experienced the amazing feeling of becoming one with Aomine, he felt torn. Even during the violence of that first joining, the inner most core of his being had been happy, had finally found the home he hadn’t known he had always been searching for.

It flew in the face of everything he had ever believed, but he  _did_  want Aomine. Wanted the touch and scent of his skin, wanted to learn about him, what he liked, what he hated, what kind of faces he made when he was happy or sad or content. Kagami’s firmly held convictions warred with the yearnings of his heart, his body and his soul.

“I,” it was getting harder to speak, darkness was closing in on him, but he forced the words out, “I won’t run, not anymore.”

“Then sleep, Kagami Taiga,” Akashi murmured, a pleased note in his voice. “Sleep and when you awake, it will be up to  _you_  to renew your bond with Daiki.”

A warmth spread across his chest, radiating out from Akashi’s hand. It was soft and comforting and somehow familiar. His eyes fluttered shut, and with Aomine’s face filling his mind, Kagami slept.

***

Once Kagami had fallen into a cathartic slumber, Kuroko looked at Akashi, his former captain, his mentor, and the only son of their Emperor.

“You did all of that on purpose, didn’t you, Akashi-kun?” His tone wasn’t entirely friendly.

Akashi cocked his head. “You disapprove, Tetsuya?”

“I wouldn’t presume to disapprove of anything you do, Akashi-kun.”

A bright peal of laughter spilled from Akashi’s lips. “Come now, you have always been disapproving, Tetsuya, in that polite, formal way of yours. From the way we played at Teikō, to my decision to split everyone up, to how each of us viewed winning, you were there, silently condemning the whole time. You were the conscience of our group, and at times I both admired and hated you for that.”

Kuroko didn’t deny Akashi’s statements. “Then may I speak bluntly?”

Waving airily, Akashi stood. “Please do. And, bring Taiga over to the bed while you are at it.”

Kise moved to Kuroko’s side, watching their interaction with cautious, amber eyes. Akashi's mood swings were notorious, as quick and unpredictable as lightning. Right now, he seemed amused and intrigued by Kuroko’s censure, but he could just as easily turn his full wrath on the fox without even blinking.

Kuroko caressed Kise’s ear, a sign he felt, understood, and appreciated his mate’s concern, and then bent down to lift Kagami in his arms.

“You would have saved Aomine-kun anyway, no matter how Kagami-kun answered you.” He spoke as he gently carried Kagami to the bed.

“True,” Akashi acknowledged, going back to his chair. Picking up his tea cup, he took a sip, eyeing Kuroko over the rim. “And?”

Straightening, Kuroko lightly touched Kagami’s cheek before turning to gaze at the phoenix.

“And you didn’t have to torture Kagami-kun like that. He’s … fragile right now.”

Akashi put the cup down, shaking his head. “Tetsuya, Tetsuya, I didn’t think you were this blind,” he tsked softly. “Your friend is descended from the great Siberian Tigers, the largest and most powerful tigers to walk the earth, outside the Sabertooth. He is stronger than you think.”

Pale eyes thoughtful, Kuroko padded back over to Kise, unconsciously leaning his body into the large, blond wolf. “I know, better than anyone, how strong Kagami-kun is. But in here,” he thumped his chest, “he is kind, pure, for all his loud blustering. I have never met another shifter so, so  _decent_.”

Crossing his legs, Akashi glanced at the bed where, in his sleep, Kagami had somehow managed to curl his body protectively around Aomine’s.

“Yes, and that compassion is exactly what Daiki needs, maybe what  _all_  of us sorely need.” His haunting gaze turned distant.

It was unusual for Akashi to speak about things like compassion, and Kuroko’s generally blank expression registered his surprise.

“I do not understand.”

“It’s fine if you don’t, Tetsuya,” Akashi leaned his head back, his face looking wan and paler than usual. “Just know they both needed this. Taiga needed to choose Daiki of his own free will. Otherwise, he would never have been content, would never have truly accepted how their relationship started.”

“And that’s important?” Kuroko inquired carefully, wishing Kise was in humanoid form, wanting the comfort of his large, warm hand.

“It is. I take care of my own, and after everything Daiki has been through, he deserves to be happy.”

Kuroko couldn’t summon a response to that. While most viewed Akashi as cold, unfeeling, he knew it wasn’t true, had experienced his former captain’s nurturing back at Teikō. However, he had never heard the regal phoenix speak so candidly before.

The future Emperor rose, and Kuroko’s keen observation skills allowed him to notice the slight tremor in Akashi’s legs. He was on the verge of offering his assistance, knowing it would probably be rebuffed, but he didn’t have to. The door flew open and Murasakibara was suddenly at Akashi’s side.

“Aka-chin used too much energy,” he chided quietly, eyes almost black with worry.

“I’m sorry, Atsushi, it was necessary.” Akashi lifted his arm, stroking his thumb over Murasakibara’s jaw. His face was soft, tender, and for the second time that night Kuroko and Kise had to look away from him, feeling they should not be privy to such an intimate scene.

“Okay, but I’ll get mad if you put yourself in danger when I’m not around,” the purple-haired giant sounded like he was pouting.

Akashi was clearly amused when he responded. “Well, we can’t have that, can we? I’ll be more careful in the future. Tetsuya, Ryouta,” he called out, bringing their gazes back to him, “I need to rest for a little while, and Daiki and Taiga will not need witnesses when they wake up. Please wait in the Blue Room until I call for you again.”

Since Kuroko had no desire to watch his two best friends re-seal their mate bond, he nodded.

Murasakibara escorted Akashi out of the room, Kuroko and Kise close behind them. Venturing one last look at the pair on the bed, Kuroko could only hope that Akashi was right, that this whole mess would lead to Kagami and Aomine actually working things out. With a wish in his heart for his friends’ happiness, he exited and softly closed the door.

***

 

Aomine returned to consciousness with a groan. He felt like he’d been run over by a five ton elephant. What the hell had happened to him? No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than a deluge of memories assaulted him. They had been attacked and he’d been shot while protecting Kagami.

 _Kagami!_  He searched for the other’s presence down the invisible line that tied them together and felt … nothing.  _Noooo!_  His soul wailed and the panther shrieked in primal rage. Its mate couldn’t be dead. Kagami could not be dead!

Wait, something wasn’t right. The tiger’s scent still enveloped him, clung to him like a lover. Now that he noticed it, he discovered something else. The irresistible pull, the overwhelming lust he had experienced when he had first found Kagami was back with a vengeance, almost like they had never mated at all.

 _Never mated._ The abhorrent, unimaginable thought slammed into him and his eyes popped open. He was in an unknown bed, in a strange room, but the crimson gaze staring back at him was as familiar as his own blue orbs.

“Ka-Kagami,” he stuttered faintly.

“Hey,” Kagami whispered back. “How do you feel?”

He took stock of his body. “Weak, achy, but not dead yet.”

Kagami shifted, coming up on one elbow. “Well, you almost were, dead that is. That was a stupid, foolish, incredibly dumb thing you did, jumping in front of those bullets.” Aomine winced, but Kagami wasn’t finished. “And if you ever do anything like that again, you won’t have to worry about anyone else, because  _I’ll_ be the one to kick your ass.”

“Couldn’t let you die,” his voice was husky from sleep and his harrowing ordeal.

“Yeah, I kind of got that when you put your body between me and the gunman. Thank you, but please don’t ever put me through that again. I don’t think I could handle it.”

Aomine was confused, on more than one front. The mate bond was gone, but Kagami was still his mate. He could sense it, feel it, smell it. How was that possible? He also didn’t see how he had survived getting shot with quicksilver. As soon as his blood started burning, he had understood the heinous nature of the bullets that had pierced his flesh. By all rights he should be dead. And, most of all, he didn’t understand why Kagami was being so  _nice_. Hell, he didn’t know why the tiger was still there at all. Based on their short, contentious history, Kagami should have hauled ass while he was unconscious.

Some of what he was thinking must have shown on his face, because Kagami sat up, looking decidedly uncomfortable.

“We brought you to Akashi. Kuroko had said he could heal you, and he did. It was the damndest thing I have ever seen.”

Ah, that explained it. Akashi could probably pry a lost soul from the jaws of death itself, he was that powerful.

Though he was afraid of the answer, Aomine had to ask, “And the mate bond?”

Kagami avoided his gaze. “Whatever Akashi did to heal you erased it. The mark on the back of my neck is gone, too.”

The panther roared, and Aomine felt like howling along with it. He wanted to jump up, pin Kagami down, and fuck him senseless, mark him again, permanently this time. As the old saying went, however, the flesh was willing but his body was weak. Being almost dead had left him sluggish, powerless. There was not a damn thing he could do about the erection begging for attention between his thighs, nothing he could do to keep Kagami at his side.

Bitterness dripped from his voice like venom. “Then what are you doing here? Didn’t you want to get as far away from me as possible? This is your chance. I can’t summon the strength to stop you, not this time.”

Just saying the words damaged him, broke the heart he had assumed was encased in granite since middle school. He didn’t love Kagami, not yet, but he knew he could, knew he  _would_ , and thinking he would never have the chance to realize that love hurt him as much as the loss of its mate hurt the panther within.

“That,” Kagami knotted the sheet underneath them in his fist, openly struggling with his response, “that’s what Akashi offered, but I just couldn’t…” he stopped talking, biting his lip, looking vulnerable and lost and so very beautiful, at least to Aomine’s biased eyes.

“You just couldn’t what?” Aomine’s voice was even deeper, even raspier than before.

Kagami lifted his eyes to Aomine’s face. “I just couldn’t stand the thought of being alone again.”

The confession exploded out of him, the words seemingly wrenched from his mouth. Aomine forgot to breathe, stunned by the unexpected admission.

“I don’t want to be alone anymore, either,” he replied honestly when he could breathe again.

Nodding curtly, the tiger let go of the sheet and cupped Aomine’s face in his palm. “I would like to get to know you, find out things like what your favorite color is or when you first started playing basketball, and I wish we had time to do all of that first, but we don’t.”

Aomine savored the warmth of Kagami’s hand on his cheek, but he frowned in confusion at the other shifter’s cryptic statement. “I don’t understand, we have all the time in the world now.”

“No, we don’t,” Kagami smiled sadly. “Can’t you feel it? The draw, the heat, the mating frenzy. Just sitting here like this, it is taking all my willpower not to pounce on you. Your scent is drowning all my senses.”

Of course Aomine felt it. His whole body was trembling with desire, with the urge to dominate and reclaim the mate that had been severed from him.

“You know I do, but I don’t think my body is up to it yet.”

Eyes flashing to Aomine’s groin, Kagami murmured sardonically, “Oh, I don’t know. It looks plenty  _up_  to me.”

Almost swallowing his tongue, Aomine felt himself actually blush. This Kagami was so different from the one he had first met that he didn’t know what to think, other than he kind of enjoyed it.

“Dammit, that’s not what I meant,” he growled. “I’ve got a permanent boner when I’m around you, that’s nothing new.” It was Kagami’s turn to flush at the crude compliment. “It's just, I barely have the strength to wiggle my toes. There’s no way I can pound your ass in the state I’m currently in.”

Kagami grimaced and shook his head. “I bet you get slapped a lot, don’t you?”

“How’d you know?”

“Wild guess,” he muttered drily and rose to his knees, shimmying out of his pants, the only article of clothing he was currently wearing.

Aomine’s gaze zoomed right to Kagami’s crotch. The tiger was hard, too, hard and as perfect as he remembered.

Close to drooling all over himself, he jerked his eyes away. “Are you torturing me on purpose? I told you I can’t fuck you right now.”

Easing over him, Kagami straddled his waist with a smirk. “But _I_  can fuck you, can’t I?”

Torn between desire and nervousness, Aomine peered into Kagami’s crimson eyes, eyes that were hot and a little wild. “Um, I really don’t think I’m well enough for  _that_.”

A warm, sexy chuckle was his reward for that panicked statement.

“Don’t worry,  _your_  ass isn’t in danger …yet.” Aomine wasn't entirely comfortable with that “yet” but Kagami continued, the smile fading from his face. “I need this, Aomine.  _We_  need this.”

He wasn’t entirely positive, but Aomine thought that was the first time Kagami had actually called him by name. Something inside him shifted. The cold, hard mass of darkness built on the anger and loneliness and despair he had cloaked himself in for years broke apart, cleansed just by hearing his name on his mate’s lips. Such a simple thing, yet so powerful. Though it wasn’t his given name, it was a start.

“Say it again,” he whispered hoarsely. “Say my name again, please.”

Kagami looked puzzled by the request, but he complied. “Aomine.”

“Again.”

“Aomine.”

His lashes fluttered close. “Again.”

“Aomine.”

He felt the word ghost across his lips and his eyes jerked back open. Kagami’s face was hovering over his, close enough that their breath mingled.

“Aomine,” Kagami repeated it a fourth time, “I… I need to replace the memory of our first time. I need to choose, not have the choice to mate  _made_  for me.  I’m not sure how things will turn out in the future, but I’m willing to give it a shot if you can see me as an equal and not just a submissive outlet for your lust.”

Drawing on reserves he didn’t even know were there, Aomine forced strength into his arm and raised his hand to the top of Kagami’s head, massaging one fur-covered ear. The tiger started to purr, abruptly cutting the sound off when he noticed what he was doing, color staining his cheeks. Aomine smiled.

“I might not always be gentle. Two dominant personalities are bound to clash. Are you sure? You can still get up and walk away.” The panther growled at those words. Frankly, Aomine didn’t care for them either, but he had hurt his mate terribly earlier when the mating fever had been on him. If he was being given a second chance to make things right, then he would do it and to hell with the consequences.

Kagami hesitated, causing Aomine to fear the worst, but then brought their lips together. “I’m 85% sure, so you should shut up before I change my mind.”

Aomine wasn’t entirely stupid. He shut up, and Kagami kissed him.

It started off slow and easy, a tender exploration. Kagami licked the corners of his mouth, nibbled his lips, probed the seam with delicate, kittenish flicks of his tongue. It was honestly a good thing Aomine couldn’t move, because otherwise he would be flipping Kagami over, taking his mouth in a ferocious, demanding kiss.

“This isn’t enough,” Kagami gasped, retreating just enough so he could speak.  He was breathing erratically, his heart hammering so violently Aomine could feel it pounding against his chest. “I’m sorry. I wanted to be gentle but I can’t. The mating heat is too strong, too overpowering. I can’t resist it.”

“Don’t resist,” Aomine urged, cursing the weakness keeping him flat on his back. “Go ahead fuck me, my mate, my tiger. Fuck me hard and fast. I want it. I want  _you_.”

Those words enflamed Kagami. He crushed his lips to Aomine’s while grinding their swollen cocks together. Aomine almost came right then, his lack of strength affecting other things as well.

“I can’t hold back, Kagami,” he hissed into Kagami’s mouth. “I don’t have the stamina. If you don’t join us together, I’m going to spill my seed outside your body.”

Kagami tore his mouth away and sat up. He reached for something on the bed next to them. It was a bottle of lube.

“Where did you get that?”

“In the dresser over there.”

Aomine’s eyes widened and short bark of laughter was surprised out of him. “You went rummaging through Akashi’s stuff? You’re either very brave or very stupid, I’m leaning toward the latter.”

“Shut up, dumbass,” Kagami grunted, opening the bottle and pouring the contents into his hand. Without another word, he reached down and grabbed Aomine’s cock.

The panther’s eyes crossed. A moan rumbled low in his throat. Wet fingers stroked him, coating his dick with the lube. It was heaven and hell all rolled into one.

“Seriously, Kagami,  _stop_ ,” the plea was almost intelligible. “I’m going to cum.”

“No, not yet.” Kagami released him.

Lifting his body off Aomine’s, Kagami braced himself on one hand. His tail swished to the side and his other hand, the wet hand, disappeared behind him. He sucked in a breath and Aomine knew exactly what he was doing. The image of Kagami preparing his body, of Kagami plunging his own fingers into his ass brought Aomine precariously close to the edge.

“Please, now. Put me inside you now.” Aomine, an Alpha male who had never begged for anything in his life, was begging now, and he didn’t give a damn.

Kagami’s hand found Aomine’s shaft again, holding it steady as he lowered himself over it. They both held their breath at the initial penetration, the air whooshing out in dual groans when he dropped down hard, seating Aomine to the hilt inside him.

“ _Fuck_ ,” Aomine swore, the tight, damp heat sucking him in, driving him crazy. “Move, Kagami, ride me.”

Kagami moved, rolling his hips awkwardly at first until he found a rhythm he liked. Aomine watched him through narrowed eyes, thinking he looked like a god. A beautiful, feral, pagan god, with his fiery red hair, burning eyes, and hard, muscled body. His god. His mate. His Kagami.

Locking his knees against Aomine’s hips, Kagami’s fingers trailed down his body, found his own weeping cock, and rubbed it. Aomine had never seen such a sexy sight, not even in all the gravure magazines he had read over the years.

“That’s it, kitten, fuck your hand like you’re fucking my cock.” He didn’t know how he even had the mental faculties to speak at the moment, all the blood in his body having rushed from his head to his penis.

“Don’t … call … me … kitten,” Kagami wheezed, lifting up and slamming down so hard and fast he rocked the bed into the wall.

He gave his dick a few more swift pulls and then he was cumming, splattering Aomine’s belly and chest with his semen. His inner walls tightened with his orgasm, clamping down on Aomine’s cock. The dark-haired shifter cursed again, balls tightening almost painfully just before the wonderful kick of release hit him. Biting back a guttural scream, he climaxed, shooting his cum deep inside his mate.

Kagami fell on him as their orgasms continued, twisting his head, offering his neck, offering his everything. Aomine understood, his eyes stinging as his fangs elongated. He took what his mate offered, biting down hard, jerking when teeth pierced his own neck. Heat, hotter and deeper than before, flared between them, consuming and fusing them together until two became one.

The mate bond snapped back into place, linking them for eternity. Kagami’s tears splashed hotly against his shoulder. His own rolled unheeded down his face. Some strength finally returning, he wrapped his arms around that broad, rigid back and hugged Kagami close.

“Thank you,” he whispered fiercely, reverently, and Aomine had never meant two words more in his life.

TBC


	9. Idiots

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Calling humans ‘monkeys’ isn’t very nice,” Kagami frowned up at him, but his eyes were smiling now.
> 
> A savage grin curved Aomine’s lips. “I never claimed to be nice.”
> 
> Kagami returned the grin. “Neither did I.”

Kise bucked restlessly up into the tight, hot depths of his mate’s body. Kuroko was riding him with painstakingly slow movements, and it was nearly driving him crazy. Hell, doing this under Akashi’s roof was mad in itself, but there was nothing Kise could do about that now. When he had awoken, returned to his humanoid form, his dick had already been in Kuroko’s warm, wicked little mouth.

“K-Kurokocchi, what are you doing?” he’d gasped, eyes nearly crossing from a particularly naughty lap to the slit in his cockhead.

Easing up, lips wet and glistening from his actions, Kuroko had stared back at him with that carefully blank expression he was so good at. His eyes though, his eyes had been blazing, their wintry depths lit with a blue fire that seared Kise right to his core.

“Isn’t it obvious, Kise-kun?” Kuroko had asked, his soft voice roughened with passion.

“Ah, yeah, but— _ahhhh_ —we shouldn’t be doing this here of— _ohhhh_ —all places. Akashicchi— _damn, not there or I will cum!_ —will get mad.”

Moans and sighs broke up the words he was trying to say as his mate leaned back down, licking, sucking, and nibbling on his shaft from root to tip.

“He won’t,” Kuroko delicately traced the underside of his cock, “because they’ve all been doing it, too. Can’t you feel it?”

Actually, he was having a hard time feeling anything above his waist at the moment, but Kise forced himself to focus, to ignore the seductive, pale body nestled between his thighs and the talented mouth pleasurably tormenting his groin. He did feel it, then, the sexual energy swirling all around them. The air was thick with it, rife with the scent of lust. If possible, his cock grew even harder, his shifter body responding to all those mating pheromones churning about.

Hot, tempestuous, and wild energy pounded at him from the room next to theirs. Aomine and Kagami, it had to be, renewing their bond. A brief sense of relief swept over him, only to be washed away by the cool, sweet, powerful mating auras pouring out from a room down the hall. Akashi and Murasakibara. They, too, were having sex right then. Kise’s mind shied away from the image that tried to form.

“Are you paying attention, Kise-kun?” A hard squeeze on his erection brought Kise’s eyes back to Kuroko.

His hand stretched down, tangling in the messy blue strands of Kuroko’s hair, and Kise grinned, an erotic, dangerous, knowing smile that advertising agencies all over Japan paid bucketloads of yen to have promote their products.

“I’m  _always_  paying attention to you, Kurokocchi,” Kise’s tail thumped rhythmically on the bed beside him. “Haven’t you figured that out by now?”

Kuroko sat up, reaching for a tube of gel he had placed on the rich, blue bedspread before he had begun his sensual assault on Kise’s penis.

“I do know,” he had answered with a steady, loving conviction that never failed to rock Kise clean down to his soul.

Twisting the cap off the tube, Kuroko squeezed dollop on the head of Kise’s dick, causing the wolf to jerk slightly at the cold sensation. Tossing the lubricant aside, Kuroko took his small but strong hands and started smearing the gel all over Kise’s aching erection. The slick friction brought a moan to the blond’s lips and a small, pleased smile to Kuroko’s.

In no time, Kise was writhing on the bed, close to begging, his golden eyes smoldering and dilated with lust.

“ _Kurokocchi_ ,” Kise groaned, thrusting into his mate’s wet fingers.

“Alright, Kise-kun,” Kuroko murmured, crawling up Kise’s body until he straddled tawny, slim hips.

Grasping Kise’s cock, the fox had slowly lowered himself, spearing his body with Kise’s rigid, erect flesh. Kise knotted his hands in the sheets, resisting the urge to grab his mate’s ass and force that small form down hard and fast on his needy cock. At times like this, when Kuroko took the lead, Kise had learned to let the smaller shifter have his way.

In reality, the fox was just a tiny bit sadistic, which was alright because Kise had a strain of masochism that he couldn’t quite always contain.

And that was how he ended up in his current position, Kuroko lifting up and sliding back down with a maddening slowness that kept Kise hovering right on the brink of completion, but never giving him enough force to send him over the edge. They had been like this for well over an hour, locked together, Kise fighting his instincts which screamed at him to flip Kuroko over and fuck him deep and quick until they were both screaming out their orgasm.

Kuroko stared down at him, sleek skin damp with sweat, a glint in his eyes that showed he knew exactly what he was doing to Kise, and enjoyed it greatly.

Kise didn’t know how much more he could take. Blood pounded fiercely in his ears, his dick so hard and sensitive from their long, leisurely joining that it almost bordered on agony. Which only served to heighten both of their pleasure.

“Kurokocchi,  _please!_ ” Kise finally pleaded, needing to cum so badly his body trembled with it.

Satisfaction lit Kuroko’s face at the wolf’s surrender. Raking his nails over Kise’s nipples, he tightened his thighs around his mate’s waist and nodded.

“Very good, Kise-kun, I’ll let you cum now.”

Rising up, he slammed back down, the springs on the mattress protesting with a loud, metallic scream. Kise almost screamed himself, it felt that good, that wonderful. Release loomed just beyond his reach. He needed it harder, faster, and his little fox gave it to him.

Mouth parted, pink tongue peeking between his lips, Kuroko rode him with wanton abandon. Kise reached up, dug his fingers into Kuroko’s hips, and shoved upward, meeting every downward thrust. His brain was mush, lost in a sea of carnal desperation. The beast inside him howled, wanting to claw and bite and mark its mate.

Knowing what he needed, Kuroko dropped down until they were belly to belly, chest to chest, never ceasing his ferocious movements.

“I love you, Kurokocchi!” Kise panted, the fangs in his mouth already lengthening.

“I know,” Kuroko replied huskily, plunging his hands into Kise’s hair and holding that blond head to his shoulder. “I love you, too. Now  _cum!_ ”

Kise obeyed, rearing up so hard, he actually lifted Kuroko’s legs off the bed, back arching in intense, delicious pleasure. His cock jerked and spasmed, pulsing his release deep within his mate’s body as he set his teeth to Kuroko’s shoulder and bit down hard, hard enough to draw the spicy-sweet taste of the fox’s blood into his mouth. Shuddering, Kuroko moaned and came, soaking Kise’s skin with his thick, creamy essence.

Pulling his teeth out, the wolf grabbed Kuroko’s face and kissed him, putting every bit of love and faith and desire he had for the other shifter in the embrace. Their hearts hammered in unison as they held each other, drowning in each other’s scent and taste, until an awkward whisper reached his ears.

“I told you we should have knocked, dumbass!”

“Whatever. It’s not like  _we_  weren’t doing the same thing just ten minutes ago.” He could almost hear the other person shrugging.

The sound of flesh hitting flesh echoed through the room, followed by a painful grunt.

Releasing Kuroko’s lips, Kise turned in time to see Kagami’s fist pulling back from Aomine’s arm. The wolf groaned and closed his eyes, hoping that by not seeing the pair he could pretend they weren’t there. It didn’t work. Now that he had come down from the high of orgasm he could smell the two cats, their cinnamon scents mixing with the musk of wolf and fox and sex. He groaned again.

Kuroko wasn’t as passive. “Kagami-kun, Aomine-kun, you have five seconds to get out of this room before I forcefully remove you.”

His voice was cold and flat and absolutely terrifying. Cracking an eye open, Kise saw Aomine actually duck behind Kagami, as if the other shifter offered some measure of protection against Kuroko’s wrath. Kagami just gave the panther a baleful look and started to apologize, only to go pale as a sheet when Kuroko actually started counting down from five.

“Five, four, three, two.”

The two werecats didn’t wait for the final number, scrambling for the exit, pushing and shoving each other out of the way in order to be the first person out the door.

The fox waited until the door closed before moving. The shifting of his body caused Kise to slide out and, as always happened in that moment when they separated, he felt a keen sense of loss that was only assuaged by his knowledge that Kuroko was his, would always be his.

“I guess we should get dressed so we can see what they want,” the fox sighed.

He stood, padding over to a white armoire, rummaging through it until he found something they could use to wipe themselves off. Kise watched him, admiring as Kuroko’s lightly defined muscles bunch and flex under his pale, perfect skin. The blond werewolf smiled gently. His life was good, really good, even with a pair of idiotic, mated cats to contend with now, and he couldn’t be happier.

***

In the hall, Aomine was still rubbing the spot where Kagami had punched him, a sulky frown on his face.

“Dammit, did you have to hit me so hard?” he grumbled.

Skin splotchy with a blush that he hadn’t been able to get rid since they walked into that obscenely blue room and saw what Kuroko and Kise were doing, Kagami glared at his new mate.

“ _Yesss!_ ” he hissed. “And I should punch you again for making me see that … that … _that!”_  Kagami couldn’t finish the sentence, the color in his face deepening.

Aomine chuckled. “You can’t even say it. How did you grow up to be such a prude? Shifters, especially the cats, are extremely physical and  _always_  horny. Surely that’s not the first time you saw someone else making love?”

Kagami ground his teeth. “I’m not a prude! I just don’t think it’s right to watch anyone else when they are  … like  _that_.”

Laughing, Aomine smiled widely, showing sharp, white teeth. “See? You really can’t say it. C’mon, give it a try. Sex.”

“Shut up.” The tiger’s eyebrows snapped together in annoyance.

“Making love,” Aomine continued blithely.

“I said stop it.”

Voice dropping an octave, Aomine purred, “Fucking.”

Feeling like his face was about to burn up from the heat it was putting off, Kagami grabbed Aomine’s shirt and growled. “I said shut up, asshole!”

He didn’t know what was wrong with him. It was like Aomine rubbed him the wrong way in all the  _right_  ways. Kagami felt the need to argue and fight, along with the desire to touch and kiss and mate with the jerk. He wondered if it would always be like this between them, now that they were well and truly joined, each bearing the other’s mark for life.

Aomine stared down at Kagami, a fiendish gleam in his dark eyes. “You really are just too cute, aren’t you?”

Biting back a roar, Kagami tightened his grip on Aomine’s shirt and snarled up into that arrogant, handsome face, “I told you before not to call me that!”

Digging a pinkie nonchalantly in his ear, the panther shrugged with a cheeky grin, “I forgot.”

Kagami saw red. “You didn’t forget, dickhead, you are doing it on purp— _oof!_ ”

His screaming complaint was abruptly cut off. Aomine snatched him up, dragging him tight against that slightly taller body, and crushed their mouths together.

Kagami stiffened for a moment, but Aomine’s heat and taste and luscious scent washed over him. He melted into the kiss, pushing and sparring with his mate’s tongue, nipping and biting at Aomine’s surprisingly soft lips.

Somehow, they ended up against the wall, Aomine’s back to the hard surface, Kagami plastered to his front. The kiss was wet and hard and neither of them cared that they were out in the open, both completely forgetting their purpose in coming to Kise and Kuroko. 

Tails twining together, they held onto each other, Aomine’s wide, strong fingers gripping Kagami’s ass, pulling the tiger as close as was physically possible while still wearing clothes, forcing their erections to rub and scrape together.

“Let’s go back to the room,” Aomine suggested hotly, trailing his mouth over Kagami’s ear and down his throat.

Shivering, Kagami was on the verge of saying yes, the pull of Aomine’s body too strong to resist, but he was stopped by the door beside them slamming open.

“Kagami-kun, Aomine-kun, if you can stop humping each other in the hall, then please do come in.”

It was like a bucket of cold water sluicing over him, those cool, definitely angry words. He still wanted Aomine, would always want the damn panther he realized, but his reason returned and he moved out of his mate’s arms.

Aomine reached down to adjust himself, the erection in his shorts  _very_  obvious. “Dammit, Tetsu, first you throw us out, and then you tell us to come in. You’re as bad as Satsuki. Make up your mind!”

He was clearly cranky at being interrupted. Kagami could feel Aomine’s frustration and lust through the mate bond. He had apparently forgotten they had just done the same thing to Kise and Kuroko.

Kuroko hadn’t, obviously. His expression didn’t change but his eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

“Aomine-kun, would you like another Ignite Pass to your stomach?” His hand rose threateningly.

Now that their bond was sealed, now that Kagami belonged to him, Aomine reverted to his normal attitude with Kuroko. Affection tinged with just a hint of justified alarm colored the panther’s aura.

“I was kidding, kidding,” Aomine raised his hands in supplication, but he made sure to stay behind Kagami as they followed Kuroko into the room.

Kagami swallowed a laugh.  _Who was the cute one now?_  Though, he couldn’t blame Aomine. Having been on the receiving end of Kuroko’s infrequent but deadly temper left him with a healthy dose of respect  _and_  fear for his basketball partner.

Once in the room, his eyes went immediately to the bed, and the vision of Kuroko riding Kise flashed through his mind. His gaze met Kise’s, and they both flushed, glancing quickly away, each clearly remembering the same thing. Aomine simply looked grumpily at Kuroko, while the fox stared steadily back at him.

“So,” Kuroko eventually spoke, dispelling some of the tension between the four of them, “what was so important you needed to rush in without knocking?”

“We’re going down to interrogate the two humans, and thought you might like to come.” Aomine explained.

Kagami, who had picked up a pen from the nearby desk and was rolling it idly between his fingers, jerked his head up. “No, _I’m_  going to interrogate them. Akashi promised. We just wanted to see if you would like to be there, too.”

Aomine glared at him. “I don’t care what Akashi said. The cheetahs are my problem, I’ll handle the humans.”

Throwing the pen back on the desk, Kagami stalked toward his mate, tail sticking straight up and ears flattened against his head. “And they probably won’t answer you, stupid, because you are the one they were hired to kill! I'll get them to talk.”

His own ears twitching angrily, Aomine snorted. “Oh, and how do you plan on doing that? All I have to do is snarl and snap at them a few times and they’ll tell us everything.”

Kuroko let them argue, walking over to Kise’s side. The wolf grabbed his hand, watching the two cats in confusion.

Kagami crossed his arms. “How are you going to ask questions if you are in panther form? And then, you will have to wait another twenty-four hours before you can shift back again! I can shift as many times as I want without having to wait.”

Aomine, who had been unconscious when Akashi had made Kagami transform, was surprised by the revelation. His eyes widened, but he continued with a scowl.

“I don’t care.  _I’m_  the one who was shot, who almost died. I deserve the right to torture those puny humans.”

“ _And I’m the one who almost watched you die, bastard!_  If I want to bleed those humans, hurt them and force them to reveal their secrets, it is my right! _”_   Kagami yelled, his red eyes round and a little wild.

Rage and fear and grief rolled off him in waves, bombarding the rest of them.

Kuroko squeezed his mate’s hand as those powerful emotions buffeted them. Kise stood, as if to shield his smaller mate from those painful feelings.

Aomine could only stare at Kagami in shock. This wasn’t the same tiger who had run from him, who had fought him and their bond. Their reconnection changed something inside the red-head, and Aomine was thrilled by it, thrilled and sad that his mate was experiencing such pain because of him.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” he whispered, stunning Kise and Kuroko who had never heard him apologize so sincerely before. The two werecats stared at each other until Aomine cleared his throat and looked away, a faint flush slashing across his cheeks. “Alright, you can question the monkeys.”

“Calling humans ‘monkeys’ isn’t very nice,” Kagami frowned up at him, but his eyes were smiling now.

A savage grin curved Aomine’s lips. “I never claimed to be nice.”

Kagami returned the grin. “Neither did I.”

Rubbing his hands together almost gleefully, Aomine nodded. “Good, then let’s go make those weaklings piss their pants.”

“Sounds like a  _great_  plan.” The tiger’s voice dripped with dark excitement.

For all his gentleness, Kagami still had a beast within him, a beast whose mate had almost been killed right before his eyes. Vengeance was a dish best served steaming hot, and he was about to deliver a whole heap of it.

The pair headed for the door. Aomine looked back over his shoulder. “Tetsu, Kise, you coming?”

Kise stared at the two cats and whimpered. “Two of them, we have  _two_  of them now, Kurokocchi. The two of them, together.”

Kuroko knew what he meant. Kagami and Aomine were very similar. Passionate, confident, aggressive, and totally idiotic. By themselves, they had been hard to handle. Together, well it was probably going to give everyone around them a great many annoyed, exasperated headaches.

A tiny smile played across Kuroko’s mouth. He couldn’t wait to see it, to see what these two, big, hulking, beautiful idiots became together.

Tugging Kise along, he joined the stupid couple and they left. He tried to summon a small amount of pity for the humans Kagami was about to terrorize, but he couldn’t. They had hurt his precious friends. He wouldn’t mind watching them bleed a little himself.

_TBC_


	10. Chastised

Two more had joined their little party at Akashi's place, but Aomine and Kagami hadn’t noticed. Alternately grappling with each other and cursing loudly, they missed the room’s other occupants at first.  
  
“Kagami, you bastard, when I get my hands on you, I’m gonna’ rip that thing right off your neck!” Aomine snarled, then added in the same breath, “Oi, Murasakibara, I told you to put me down!”  
  
Not letting the threat slide, Kagami reached around the giant currently hauling Aomine and him into the room and pinched his mate’s cheek. “Try, you overgrown fur ball, and I will beat you so bad your ancestors will feel it!”  
  
Kise and Kuroko followed the trio. Kuroko didn’t appear fazed by the amusing spectacle, but Kise nearly couldn’t contain his mirth. His eyes danced merrily and he bit the inside of his cheek to hold back the laughter welling up in his throat.  
  
“Could you savages stop causing such a ruckus? I’m trying to speak with Akashi.” A familiar, surly voice called out from the corner of the room.  
  
Kise turned his gaze that direction and, sure enough, Midorima stood there next to Akashi, the ever present Takao at his side. The wereowl looked disgusted at the display before him. One glance at Takao’s face, however, revealed the hawk found as much humor in the situation, if not more, as Kise did. And, apparently not as circumspect as Kise, he gave into that amusement.  
  
  
One or two snorting chuckles became full, belly rolling laughter. He bent over, hands around his stomach and tears in his eyes. His laughter was contagious and Kise finally lost it, throwing his head back and filling the air with gleeful laughter. At the infectious sound, even Kuroko’s lips twitched a little.  
  
Who could blame them? Murasakibara had changed clothes sometime after Kise last saw him (and the reason for that was something the wolf did  _not_  want to think about). He wore a shockingly pink shirt with the statement  _Beware of dragons, for thou are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!_ emblazoned across the front, and a pair of jeans in a shade of purple just a bit darker than his hair.  _They really made purple jeans in that size?!_  
  
  
Oh, and speaking of his hair, it or rather his bangs, were pulled up away from his face with a pink candy ball ponytail holder. He looked like a child, a 208 cm tall child, as did the two men struggling wildly in his arms.  
  
Murasakibara had Aomine tucked under one arm, and Kagami under the other, almost like a father separating squabbling siblings. The three of them made quite a hilarious picture.  The only two men in the room  _not_  amused were the grouchy Midorima, and Akashi, who had also changed into a new kimono, and now stood watching the commotion with a mild expression and an arched eyebrow.  
  
Akashi observed the ruckus for a few more moments, but when Aomine grabbed Kagami’s nose and twisted, making the tiger emit a hair-raising screech, resulting in Murasakibara shaking the pair like rag dolls, he sighed. “Excuse me, Shintarou, it seems I must address my naughty children or we will be here all night.”  
  
Takao, who by now was wheezing from the force and length of his laughter, heard the exchange and it set him off again. He nearly toppled over and had to lean against Midorima or find himself falling face forward onto Akashi’s expensive looking rug.  
  
Pushing up his glasses, Midorima glanced over his shoulder in irritation. “Takao! Shut up.”  
  
Hiccupping now, the werehawk slid his arms around his mate, curving his body into Midorima’s sturdy back. “C’mon, Shin-chan, don’t be so grouchy. You have to admit, they look pretty funny.”  
  
“I have to do no such thing,” Midorima instantly rejected Takao’s assertion, but he leaned back and his hands came down over his mate’s, locking their fingers together.  
  
A few meters away, Akashi folded his arms, dual-colored eyes raking over the five men who had disrupted his conversation. He started with Kise, and the moment their gazes met, the blond wolf paled and abruptly stopped laughing. Kuroko calmly returned his stare, face serene, no trace of his previous almost smile. That left the other three.  
  
“Would anyone care to tell me why Atsushi is carting Daiki and Taiga around like errant children?”  
  
“They were fighting, Akachin,” Murasakibara answered in his lazy, mellow voice. “Even after I told them that Akachin had said to come up to the meeting room, they wouldn’t stop, so I made them come.”  
  
  
“I see. Then I cannot fault you for your actions.” He smiled briefly at Murasakibara causing the giant’s face to light up at the praise. The smile faded as he turned his attention to the two werecats. “Well, then. Daiki, Taiga, can you please explain why you ignored a direct order and proceeded to create a disturbance in my house?”  
  
Aomine guiltily avoided Akashi’s penetrating gaze. Kagami just looked stubborn.  
  
“I don’t answer to you.” The tiger announced defiantly, not realizing how ridiculous he appeared trying to be rebellious while dangling from Murasakibara’s arm.  
  
Though his countenance remained unchanged, Akashi’s anger exploded. A scorching wind, as hot and strong as a nuclear blast, ripped through the room. Everyone but Murasakibara trembled and closed their eyes.  
  
Stepping close, Akashi put his finger under Kagami’s chin and lifted it, forcing crimson eyes to open and meet his own red and gold ones.  
  
“Make no mistake, Kagami Taiga, you  _do_  answer to me. When you chose to stay with Daiki, you chose me as well. Rather, I chose you, but that is just semantics. We now have a bond just as strong, just as deep, and just as lasting as the one you share with Daiki. Nod if you understand.”  
  
At that moment, Kagami was glad the purple-haired Murasakibara held him suspended in the air. Helpless under the weight of Akashi’s gaze and immense power, he could only nod. The phoenix absolutely dominated him, and he could feel shame at the absolute terror spiraling through his veins.  
  
 At some point, Akashi’s nail had lengthened into a talon and the movement caused the nail to pierce his skin. A small drop of blood beaded up and rolled slowly down his throat. On the other side of Murasakibara, Aomine caught the scent of his mate’s blood and went crazy.  
  
Eyes dilated and fangs bared, he fought against Murasakibara like the wildcat he was. “I don’t care that you could flatten me without breaking a sweat, Akashi, the only one allowed to bleed my mate is  _me_.”  
  
Kagami was conflicted by Aomine’s vehement declaration, the words both thrilling and dismaying him. Akashi lowered his hand and glanced at the panther but Aomine didn’t notice. Not able to budge Murasakibara, he opened his mouth and sank his teeth into the bigger man’s bicep.  
  
“ _Owww!_ ” Murasakibara roared and flung Aomine away. He was strong, really, really strong, and Aomine slammed into the wall with enough force that it fractured around him.  
  
Now it was Kagami’s turn to struggle, ever cell in his body screaming at him to run to his mate’s side. He needn’t have bothered. Murasakibara dropped him like a sack of potatoes to clap a hand over Aomine’s bite. The tiger scrambled across the floor, over to the other werecat’s side.  
  
Murasakibara raised his hand and something odd happened. Blood had seeped through his fingers and the second he saw it, his entire visage darkened dramatically. A strange rustle whispered through the air, followed by the sound of rending fabric. Kagami, hands probing the back of Aomine’s skull for injuries, swerved his head. He saw something he would never forget for the rest of his life. Murasakibara sprouted wings. Not the feathery wings of any werebird Kagami had ever seen, but great, leathery wings so massive they grazed the ceiling and touched the edges of the room.  
  
They were lavender, the undersides tinged with the faintest pink. Talon-like protrusions extended from the highest point of each wing and the ends where they tapered off.  Kagami could admit it, he was suitably freaked out. There were no creatures he knew that had wings like that, not even bats.  
  
The wings scraped menacingly against the ceiling as Murasakibara moved, glowing purple eyes set on Aomine’s face.  
  
“I will crush you,” he stuck his hand out, twisting his fingers into a massive, deadly claw.  
  
Instinct riding him, Kagami threw himself over Aomine’s dazed form, just as frightened of the winged giant as he had been of Akashi.  
  
And then Akashi was between them, his pale hands reaching up to cup Murasakibara’s enraged face.  
  
“Atsushi, stop. It was an accident. Daiki did not attack you, didn’t threaten you. Calm down.”  
  
Murasakibara looked down. “Akachin?” The dangerous glow faded from his eyes and he shuddered. The monstrous wings slowly retracted. He folded his long arms around Akashi and buried his face in that bright red hair, inhaling deeply. The feeling of mortal peril disappeared like a flame that had been doused.  
  
Kagami breathed a sigh of relief. He glanced up at the ceiling and shivered at the gouges those razor-sharp barbs had left behind. His gaze dropped, rolled past the hugging men, and found Kise and Kuroko crowded in the opposite corner, cautious looks on their faces. Midorima and Takao weren’t far away. The wereowl had pulled Takao behind him, probably to get him out of harm’s way.  
  
“What the hell  _is_  he?”  
  


Aomine, who had regained his senses, leaned against Kagami and exhaled harshly. “Didn’t you figure it out by now, mate? Murasakibara is a fucking dragon.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
“Well, then, let’s start over.” Akashi lifted his tea cup and sipped delicately.  
  
He seemed peaceful enough, but not a single man in the room was fooled. The phoenix, and undisputed leader of their little group, was  _very_  angry. He sat in the high-backed chair with his legs crossed. Murasakibara stood behind him, chin resting on Akashi’s head, a contented smile on his face. There was no sign of the dangerous creature from before.  
  
The other six occupants sat formally on the floor, even Midorima and Takao. Needless to say, Midorima didn’t take it too well.  
  
“I don’t see why I am with  _them_ ,” he waved a disgusted hand at the four weres to his right. Takao was on his left and wasn’t included in his annoyed statement. “I had nothing to do with that fiasco earlier.”  
  
“ _Shintarou_.” The clipped way Akashi said his name made Midorima straighten and curl his hands on his lap.  
  
“Pfft, Shin-chan got scolded,” Takao nudged Midorima with a laugh. He still thought the whole thing was hysterical.  
  
Akashi cut his eyes toward Takao. The hawk sucked his lips in to stifle his laughter. It wasn’t that he didn’t fear Akashi, too. Takao just saw the absurdity of six powerful men, powerful  _weres_ , on their knees in front of a person shorter than all but one of them. Still, he wisely lowered his eyes as Akashi continued to stare at him. He wasn’t an idiot, no matter how often Midorima asserted it.  
  
When he was sure both Takao and Midorima were done with their outbursts, Akashi addressed the rest.  
  
“Now, before this unpleasantness happened, I believed I had asked a question. I have yet to receive an answer.”  
  
Honestly, Kagami was still stunned to have learned that not only did dragons exist, just like phoenixes, but that Murassakibara was one. Two mythical monsters of overwhelming power were right there in front of him. He was having a hard time processing the revelation. He  had  also completely forgotten his and Aomine’s earlier tussle and the reason for it. Now that he was reminded, his ire returned. He turned to glare at Aomine who was already glaring right back. Sparks of electricity flared between them as red eyes met blue.  
  
It was Kuroko, however, who answered. “Akashi-kun, if I may?”  
  
Akashi studied Kuroko for a moment. He finally nodded. “Then if you would be so kind, Tetsuya, to explain, I would love to hear why two men who had just resealed their mate bond, who had just copulated so fiercely that I am actually going to need to replace the planks on the bottom of the bed, who just had the pleasure of questioning those murderous humans, embroiled themselves in a juvenile argument so rowdy that Atsushi had to intervene.”  
  
“It’s Kagami-kun’s necklace,” Kuroko said simply, causing Kagami to flinch and Aomine to growl softly. “As he kept shifting back and forth between humanoid and tiger, Aomine-kun noticed that Kagami-kun’s necklace stayed on when his clothes had fallen to the floor.”  
  
“A necklace?” Akashi looked both amused and annoyed.  
  
“Another  _male_  gave it to him!” Aomine burst out. He was still glowering at Kagami, though his gaze was hot with possessiveness.  “I asked him to take it off—”  
  
“You demanded it!” Kagami cut in with a snarl.  
  
“—and he refused!” Aomine finished, the accusation ringing loudly in Kagami’s ear.  
  
  
“Of course I refused, dumbass!” Kagami scooted around to fully face Aomine, completely ignoring Akashi and the rest. “This is precious to me, proof of a promise, and I’m  _not_  taking it off just because you want me to.”  
  
Aomine leaned in so close their noses touched. “My mate will  _not_  wear a ring given to him by another male. I won’t allow it! The only ring you can wear is mine.”  
  
“I wonder if he realizes he just proposed,” Takao whispered in a laughing aside to Midorima, earning him a terse “Takao!” from his unamused mate.  
  
“And my mate can go fuck himself!” Kagami shouted. “I was a child when Tatsuya gave this to me, and he was a kid, too! You’re a retard for getting so worked up about it.”  
  
“You call him by his name!” Aomine raged and pounced, sending Kuroko and Kise scuttling away.  
  
Everyone could feel his anger, Kagami more than the rest through their mate bond. Well, he was angry, too. Tatsuya was his childhood friend, his big brother. Aomine was way out of line.  
  
Kagami caught Aomine midair and they began rolling on the floor, vying for domination. It didn’t take long for their mutual fury to morph into something else, something equally heated, equally violent. Aomine’s eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared, taking in his mate’s scent. Kagami, who had landed on top, looked down. The absolute desire on Aomine’s face burned into his brain. He dropped his eyes to those wicked, wicked lips and couldn't stop himself from covering them with his own.  
  
As it had from the first moment they had touched, no the first second they had caught each other’s scent, it was like touching a match to a can of gasoline. They ignited. Kagami groaned into Aomine’s mouth, rubbing his body against the panther’s in a long, sensual slide. Aomine, in turn, grabbed his ass and ground up into him.  
  
Takao whistled and chuckled again. Midorima harrumphed and turned his head, the tips of his ears bright red. Kise gasped, covering Kuroko’s eyes with a scandalized, “Don’t look, Kurokocchi!” The fact that Aomine and Kagami had caught him doing much worse earlier didn’t seem to matter.  
  
It’s possible the two cats might have actually gone further they hadn’t been suddenly doused with the remaining liquid from Akashi’s teacup.  
  
“You two are sorely testing my patience,” he coldly announced. “If you are going to continue to behave like animals, then I will have no choice to put collars on you and treat you as such.”  
  
The pair sprang apart, dripping and chagrined  Akashi stared down at them, the vertical slit in his heterochromatic eyes more pronounced than ever. Kagami quailed at that glacial look. Aomine hunched his shoulders and looked away.  
  
“Now, Taiga, that necklace of yours that precipitated this idiotic situation. The boy who gave it to you, were you lovers? Boyfriends? Romantically involved in anyway?”  
  
“Ew, of course not!” Kagami blanched at the thought. “We were kids. Besides, Tatsuya is like a brother to me. Just the idea,” he shuddered, “is gross!”  
  
“Daiki, test your bond. Is Taiga lying?”  
  
Aomine grunted but obligingly searched the feelings he was receiving from Kagami. “No, he isn’t,” he mumbled. He felt anger, hurt, the ever present sizzling heat, but no sense of deception from his mate.  
  
“Then this stupid fight is over. Taiga already wears your mark on his neck, but if you want to mark him in another way then put your own ring on him. On his finger where it will always be visible.”  
  
Kagami and Aomine looked at each other. “I’m … sorry.” The apology was faint but Kagami heard it. Aomine was a proud, alpha panther. The redhead knew how hard it probably was for his mate to say those three words and he melted.  
  
“Ah, yeah, me too,” he scratched his nose, hoping his face wasn’t as red as it looked as he reached out and tangled his fingers with Aomine’s. “I should have explained it better. I’m not used to this, to us.”  
  
“Kagami,” Aomine’s voice was husky.  
  
“This is so touching,” Kise sniffed, rubbing his arm across his eyes.  
  
“It’s imbecilic,” Kuroko countered callously. “We should have let Akashi-kun put the collars on them.”  
  
And Takao was off again, laughing his fool head off while Midorima wondered what he had done to deserve being stuck in this hell.  
  
“Wonderful,” Akashi walked back to his chair and sat down. Murasakibara resumed his place cuddling Akashi from the back. It should have made the phoenix look less intimidating. It didn’t. “I think we have wasted enough time. You finished questioning the humans before all that nonsense. Tell me what you found out.”  
  
So Kagami told him, with help from Aomine, Kise and Kuroko. The humans had been hired by the cheetahs to carry out the execution so the other werecats wouldn’t be accidentally exposed to the quicksilver. Kagami had terrorized them sufficiently enough that a) they  _did_  piss their pants, and b)  they gave their employees up without sparing a detail. The clan leader of the cheetahs was holed up in a hideout on the outskirts of the city. The hit on Aomine had just been the first of the attacks he had planned. All of the children of the panther clan had been targeted, down to the youngest infant.  
  
Akashi’s rage rekindled. They could all feel it. He stood up, Murasakibara already moving around to his side.  
  
“I’ve heard enough. No one strikes against my people, especially the children, and lives to talk about. Let’s go see my father.”  
  
The other six men rolled to their feet with all the gracefulness their shifter natures gave them. Kagami’s blood pumped fiercely and Aomine was grinning savagely. Neither cared they were damp and smelled like tear. Kuroko looked visibly angry and Kise’s golden eyes had bled to amber. Even Takao’s and Midorima’s faces registered grim fury.  
  
“Follow me, gentleman,” Akashi ordered, his voice dangerously quiet. “We’re going to war.”  
  
And so they went.  
  
TBC  
  



	11. Aftermath

It wasn’t a war, it was a massacre.

Kagami had shifted, ready to rend and claw, to use his teeth to tear and consume, to erase the bastards who had dared attack him, attack his mate. Aomine prowled next him, coat black and sleek, eyes glowing, fangs gleaming like daggers in the darkness.

Kuroko and Kise were there, too, also shifted. Even Midorima and Takao had come, soaring on the winds, circling behind them. But the real beasts, the real monsters, were Akashi and Murasakibara.

The phoenix hurtled through the blue-black night, a ball of red and gold, fire all around him, dripping from him, igniting the sky and burning the very air itself as he flew. His screech reverberated all around them, so loud, so powerful, the clouds in front of him actually evaporated. Kagami was awed, awed and terrified. This was the man, the being he had tried to defy. Even the tiger, now in control, felt a wary respect.

Murasakibara was just as magnificent, just as terrifying. His wing span blocked out the moon as he glided on the currents. A spiked head, longer than a house, wider than a car, rotated back and forth, it’s eyes gleaming bright yellow. Fire spouted from the open maw of its mouth, blazing trails of destruction on the ground below. Kagami glanced at Aomine and the other cat's lips stretched back in the panther’s version of a grin.

Screams split the air, echoing through the forest. Humans ran, cheetahs ran, but there was no escape. Akashi and Murasakibara herded them toward Kagami’s group, and by the time it was all over, the blood of the traitors watered the ground.

Later, Kagami would feel ill at the things he’d done, by the violence he perpetrated, but not then, not when he could still feel the agony of Aomine’s heart stuttering, the sight of his body lying broken and lifeless, the scent of his blood spilling out on the concrete. No, vengeance rode him at that moment and he had no mercy to share with the would-be mate killers.

Akashi made them leave the cheetah leader alive and he did something telepathically that left the shifter drooling on his knees, head lolling drunkenly, eyes wide and vacant. He then took his human form again and addressed them all.

“Daiki, you may tell your father he has the Emperor’s approval to unite all the cat clans though I think,” his ageless red-gold gaze flicked to Kagami, “a panther may not always lead the felines.”

Kagami’s tail swished in agitation at that remark, but Aomine bumped his head against the tiger’s flank, drawing his attention. The light in those luminous green eyes was accepting, encouraging, as if he had already realized Kagami’s strength and knew one day the tiger would be more powerful than all of them. It both pleased and alarmed him. He had no desire to lead anyone, not really, but that was for later, decades and decades later if he had anything to say about it.

“Now, the rest of you,” Akashi continued in his honeyed, commanding voice, “my father’s people will be coming soon to clean up. It would be best if you absented yourself before then. Scavengers do not always distinguish between the living and the dead.” 

On that menacing note, they scattered in different directions. Kagami caught Kuroko’s eye and he nodded, letting his friend know he would talk to him soon. The fox whuffed in answer before leaping away, Kise at his heels. Midorima just flew off without acknowledging any of them, though Takao buzzed their heads once and then followed his mate.

Through their bond he could feel Aomine’s satisfaction, but he could also feel the panther’s exhaustion. A couple of steps put him right next to his mate and he rubbed his whole body against Aomine’s side with a gentle, rumbling cough. Gratitude and affection poured down their bond and Aomine leaned back against him, his own purr vibrating Kagami’s fur.

They stayed that way for several minutes, locked in their own world where even the blood and death around them could not breach. Only when a dank, fetid scent hit them did they rouse. The scavengers Akashi had spoken of, they were near. As one, they turned around and sprang into the forest. Kagami didn’t think, didn’t hesitate for a second, his feet already heading for his apartment once they cleared the trees. Aomine followed, completely trusting Kagami. That trust was humbling.

There was a special entrance on the balcony of his apartment, one for occasions when he came home in tiger form. He leaped up, pushing the makeshift door, Aomine behind him. Inside, he didn’t change back. Aomine wouldn’t be able to shift until late tomorrow so he wouldn’t either. Padding into his bedroom, he hopped onto the bed. His eyes sought Aomine’s and he pawed at the mattress to show what he intended. The panther coughed his agreement, joining Kagami on the bed a few seconds later.

Kagami stretched out in the middle of the bed. Aomine curled into him, twining their tails together. He dropped his large, furred head onto Kagami’s neck and sighed, a happy, contented sound. The warmth of his body seeped into Kagami’s, his scent surrounded the tiger’s, and his happiness filled Kagami’s soul to bursting. His eyes drifted shut and he slept.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

When Aomine woke in his humanoid form the following night, Kagami was still beside him. The tiger had stayed next to him the whole day, not moving, not shifting out of his cat form, just letting the panther burrow into him. It felt good, felt right. It felt like home. And wasn’t that just about the corniest, sappiest, lamest thing to think, but that didn’t make it any less true.

He reached out to rub Kagami on the head between his large, furry ears.

“Kagami.” Aomine’s voice was morning hoarse.

Kagami’s tiger eyes slowly opened. Seeing Aomine had changed back to normal, he batted the other’s nose with his paw and shifted. The air shimmered and, where the massive tiger had lain, a man with tiger ears and a long, furry tail took its place.

“Hey,” Kagami smiled sleepily, his voice raspy, too.

Aomine’s breath caught at that drowsy, beautiful smile. “Hey.”

Kagami rolled over on his back, yawning and stretching. “What time is it?”

“I dunno, but it’s already dark outside, so it’s at least after seven.”

“Ah,” Kagami rubbed his head. The shaggy red spikes were all over the place, nearly covering up his black and orange ears, and his fingers just made his hair messier. “That explains why I’m so hungry.”

He sat up, scratching his belly. The realization he was naked must have hit him then because a hint of color touched his cheeks and he reached for the sheet under him.

“Don’t,” Aomine’s hand on Kagami’s wrist stopped him. “There’s no room for embarrassment between mates.”

Kagami’s eyes flicked over Aomine’s equally nude body, lingering on a part of his anatomy that was starting to swell under the tiger’s gaze. If anything, his flush deepened. Though from his scent Aomine could tell he was becoming just as aroused.

“That’s, um yeah, I don’t think I can help it.”

He mumbled and avoided Aomine’s eyes. Not about to let Kagami get away with that, Aomine jumped him, tackling his mate to the bed.

“Then we’ll just have to say naked until you aren’t embarrassed anymore.”

“Don’t be stupid, dumbass,” Kagami shoved at Aomine’s chest, but the moment his hands met the other’s smooth, warm skin, his fingers curled, digging into the firm muscles.

Aomine chuckled, wondering if Kagami would smack him if he said just how cute he found his mate. Probably. Their gazes touched and his smile softened.

“Can I kiss you?”

Kagami's mouth parted in surprise. “Why are you asking that, idiot? You didn’t ask before.”

Cupping Kagami’s cheek, he gently rubbed his thumb over the tiger’s bottom lip. “I’m asking now.”

The heat was building rapidly between them, but Aomine wanted to do this before they got caught up in the fire about to consume them both. Needed to do it actually, needed to hear from Kagami’s own lips that Aomine had permission to touch him, to kiss him, to claim him again.

Some of what he was feeling transmitted itself to Kagami. His tongue came out, swiping across Aomine’s thumb.

“Do it. Kiss me.”

Aomine kissed him.

It started soft, gentle, sweet, a slight meeting of lips. But it didn’t stay that way.

He licked the seam of Kagami’s mouth, seeking entrance, and Kagami opened for him. Their tongues touched, danced, tangled.  Kagami’s arms came up around him, sliding over his back, probing the bumps and valleys, mapping the muscles that flexed under his fingertips. Aomine’s hands, in turn, traced the tiger’s face, paying special attention to those uniquely shaped eyebrows, wondering how something so simple could fascinate him so completely.

The kiss deepened, the blaze in his belly burned hotter, and his body shifted restlessly on top of his mate’s. He could feel Kagami’s erection pressing insistently against him. It brought a groan to his lips.

Dragging his mouth away, his kissed a line over to Kagami’s ear. “Do you have any lube here?”

Kagami shuddered. “In,” he had to clear his throat, “in the drawer by the bed.”

Aomine knew his mate had been untouched when they had met, so that meant Kagami used the lube to masturbate. An image of Kagami lying on the bed, head thrown back, slowly working his cock, those big hands of his rubbing and sliding and stroking, flashed through Aomine’s mind. It was enough to make him cum, and he unconsciously moved his hips. Kagami moaned at the contact, nails digging into Aomine’s back.

“Do that again,” Aomine hissed, arching his spine. Kagami did it again and the pleasure-pain made his balls tighten. “Shit, wait, don’t do that again. I’ll cum too early.”

A surprised laugh rumbled up from Kagami’s chest. “Make up your mind, retard.”

He got a sharp nip to his lip as punishment for the insult. Aomine then laved the small sting away while reaching over to the nightstand. After a few, fumbling moments, his fingers found the lube. Closing his fist around it, he sat up. The sharp tug of disappointment he felt from Kagami’s end of the mate bond made smile.

“Here,” he tossed the lube at Kagami, who hadn’t anticipated that move at all so he had to scramble to catch it. He shot Aomine an inquiring look, which made the panther’s smile widen. “I want you to use that,” he nodded at the lube, “and fuck me.”

Kagami nearly dropped the lube at that bald declaration. “Wh-what?”

Aomine lifted his hands and slowly, tortuously, began sliding them down his chest, scraping across his nipples. Glittering chestnut eyes followed his movements, and when his fingers played along the tip of his erection, Kagami swallowed hard. There was a sense of power in touching himself and making Kagami want him, different than the power he displayed when he dominated his mate, but no less exhilarating.

“I said,” he encircled his cock and pumped, loving how Kagami looked at him, “I want you to fuck me. Take that lube and use it on me, then take your cock and fuck my ass.”

He wondered if Kagami knew just what he was offering. Aomine had never, ever let anyway take the dominant role with him, never wanting to give up that control, never wanting to be that vulnerable. He’d never even let any of his other lovers top from the bottom. That he wanted Kagami to do it, that he wasn’t the least bit reluctant or uncomfortable, that he wanted it more than this one time, wanted it to happen again and again, it spoke volumes about just how much deep his feelings for his mate ran. They might not have known each other for long, but Kagami’s presence was already so thoroughly engraved on his soul that it felt like a lifetime, though even a lifetime with Kagami wouldn’t be enough for him. He wanted forever.

Kagami stared up at him, searching Aomine’s face. What he saw there seemed to reassure him.

“C’mere,” he held out a hand. His voice was rougher, deeper, sexier than ever. It made Aomine shiver in anticipation. He took his mate’s hand and Kagami jerked him forward with enough force to make him grunt when their chests collided.

“You don’t have to pull my arm off, idiot. I’m not going anywhere.”

Flushing, Kagami hunched his shoulders. “Sorry. I just got too excited I guess.”

Hooking his ankle around Kagami’s, Aomine grabbed the tiger’s arms and rolled until he was on his back and Kagami was on top of him.

“Excitement’s good, excellent even,” the panther crossed his arms under his head and smirked up at Kagami, “so fuck me already.” He spread his legs, making a space for Kagami between him.

The tiger didn’t need to be told again. He uncapped the lube.

“One thing,” he leaned down and whispered against Aomine’s mouth. “I’m not gonna fuck you, but I will make love to you.”

Aomine felt his heart squeeze, and then he burst into laughter.

“That was freaking corny!”

Kagami reared up, forehead wrinkling and eyes narrowing. “Dammit, I was trying to be romantic.”

“Oh you were, terribly romantic. I think my loins melted right off.” Aomine’s blue eyes twinkled.

“Shut up! I’ll show you melting loins,” the tiger growled and slammed his mouth over Aomine’s.

This kiss was wild, feral, conquering, and Aomine reveled in it, giving Kagami his mouth, his breath, his everything.

The hands that moved over his body were rough and a bit clumsy, but no one else’s touch had ever felt so good. Aomine moaned, he writhed, he gasped and trembled and nearly went out of his mind with pleasure, letting his own fingers roam over Kagami’s skin, loving the feel of that hard, muscular body moving over him.

When Kagami took Aomine’s cock into his mouth, the panther grabbed a pillow and stuffed it over his face to muffle his shout. When Kagami’s lube-slicked fingers slid between into his ass, he arched so hard off the bed the pillow tumbled away.

“Is this okay?” Kagami’s question was little more than a growl.

“Yes, fuck yes,” Aomine groaned, clamping down. “And it would be better if you replaced those fingers with something else.”

Breath ragged, sweat starting to gleam on his chest, eyes scorching Aomine as they raked over his body, Kagami pulled out his fingers, stopping to tug and caress Aomine’s long, black tail.

“Okay.”

He got on his knees. Making sure Aomine watched, he took his cock in hand and stroked it a few times. It was the sexiest thing the panther had ever seen, his wild tiger pleasuring himself.

After a few more strokes, Kagami leaned in, fitted his erection against Aomine’s ass, and pushed.

There was pain, as expected. The chords in Aomine’s neck stood out as he tried to adjust. Kagami eased down onto him. In an unexpected display of tenderness, the tiger kissed Aomine’s forehead, gently brushing his damp bangs away.

“It gets better.”

Aomine took a deep breath and relaxed. “It’s better already. Move, mate. Make me cum.”

Kagami moved.

The pain gradually lessened as his body became accustomed to Kagami’s length and girth. It was still tight, but in a good way, in a way that had him digging his heels into the mattress and lifting his hips to meet the other man’s thrusts, had his fingers digging into the muscles of his mate’s ass, urging him on.

Faster, harder, his heart drummed out those commands and they spilled from his lips. Kagami snarled, a sexy, forceful sound that made Aomine’s cock jerk. Grabbing Aomine’s hips, he pulled the panther’s back right off the bed. The position sent him so incredibly deep that it felt like he was fucking Aomine’s throat.

“ _Kagami, I need to cum_.”

It was as close to begging as the panther had ever gotten, and if it would make Kagami finish him, bring him, fuck him into oblivion, then he  _would_  beg. But he didn’t have to. One hand still holding Aomine’s hip, Kagami took his other one and palmed his mate’s cock, working it in time to his hammering thrusts.

Aomine’s eyes wanted to close, wanted to give in to the sensations rolling through him, but he forced them open. He had to see, had to burn the sight of Kagami flushed and panting, sounds of pleasuring pouring out, moving over him, in him, primal, visceral, beautiful.

Their gazes clashed and the world exploded.

He’d never considered himself a screamer, but that’s just what he did. Aomine opened his mouth and screamed as ecstasy so sharp, so violent slammed into him. His legs locked around Kagami’s hips, holding his mate in place while he came all over the other’s hand.

Biting off a curse word, Kagami pulsed inside him, claws coming out, sinking into Aomine’s hip, though even in his pleasure he made sure to keep them from the cock he was still fondling. He fell forward, still thrusting shallowly. Aftershocks rippled through Aomine’s body, and though he couldn’t come again, when Kagami bent down and bit his shoulder, it felt so fucking amazing his eyes almost rolled back in his head.

While he tried to string two thoughts together, Kagami leaned back, licking Aomine’s blood from his lips.

“Gods, don’t do that,” Aomine moaned, spasming again, which caused Kagami to groan as his body tightened around the tiger.

Some moments later, Kagami eased his weight away. Aomine winced, his mate’s cock scraping across tender tissues as it pulled out.

Kagami noticed. “Are you okay?” There was a hint of worry in his voice.

Somehow, Aomine found the energy to lift his hand and pop the tiger upside his head.

“I-di-ot. I’m fine. I probably won’t be running any marathons in the next five minutes, but that was some seriously fantastic sex.” He gave Kagami a sly look. “Or would that be some seriously fantastic  _lovemaking_?”

To Kagami’s credit, his cheeks only pinkened a little. “Bite me.”

“Give me ten minutes and I will gladly grant that request.”

“Dumbass.” Kagami rolled his eyes and fell over onto this back.

Their hands were close enough to touch, but for some reason that wasn’t close enough for Aomine. He grabbed Kagami’s hand, tangling their fingers together.

“I’m glad I met you Kagami,” he turned his head to look at the tiger.

Kagami shifted, twisting to meet Aomine’s gaze. “I … yeah, me too.”

Aomine searched his mate’s face, looking for any hint that Kagami wasn’t entirely sure about that. He didn’t find it.

Squeezing the other shifter’s hand, he spoke past the sudden lump in his throat. “Thank you.” 

“It’s nothing to thank me for, Ahomine,” Kagami grumbled, but he squeezed Aomine’s hand back.

Then ruined the moment, or rather his stomach ruined it by growling so loudly Aomine actually felt the vibrations.

“Damn, you got a grizzly bear in there?”

Flushing, Kagami let go of Aomine’s hand and sat up, slinging his legs over the side of the bed. “Shut up! I haven’t eaten in twenty-four hours. Of course I’m hungry.”

Aomine sidled up behind him and kissed his shoulder. “Aw, don’t be mad. I was just teasing. I’m pretty hungry myself. Should we get dressed and go out?”

The tension in Kagami’s back eased and he leaned into his mate. “We could. Or,” he seemed to struggle for a moment, “I could make something.”

“Yeah?” Aomine couldn’t hide the happiness in his voice at the thought of his mate cooking for him. “Will it be naked-apron cooking?”

“Or I could just make something for myself and let you starve.”

“Kidding, kidding!” Though he hadn’t been exactly. He really wanted to see Kagami naked in an apron, and he swore to himself that someday he would get that wish.

Kagami grunted. He stood up and rummaged around in his dresser. A pair of shorts came sailing at Aomine, hitting him in the face.

“You can wear those. We left our other clothes back at Akashi’s.”

By the time Aomine had pulled the shorts off his head, Kagami was already dressed in blue shorts and walking toward the bedroom door.

“You coming?” he called over his shoulder.

Happier than anyone had the right to be, Aomine grinned and hopped up, slipping into the borrowed clothes.

“Yeah.”

He followed the other shifter into the kitchen, whistling all the way and thanking fate for bringing him his mate, his tiger, his Kagami.

The End (maybe)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that was worth the wait!!I am sorry it took so long but you all already know my reasons. Thank you for supporting this story, thank you for giving it kudos, commenting on it, asking about it and encouraging me to continue it. I couldn't have done it without you, my amazing readers. 
> 
> I think this is the end of the main story, but I may add little one-shots that feature the two idiots, but also Kise & Kuroko, Midorima & Takao and maybe Akashi & Murasakibara. I hope you will read and enjoy those stories, too. 
> 
> Please let me know your thoughts on this chapter or the fic in general. I love reading them.
> 
> ~Bex

**Author's Note:**

> This is inspired by all the fanart I have seen of Aomine & Kagami sporting kitty ears and tails!


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